Late Nights
by prongles
Summary: James Potter and Lily Evans spent a lot of late nights together. COMPLETED.
1. Chapter 1

_"… You make me SICK." She turned on her heel and hurried away._

"Evans!" James shouted after her. "Her, EVANS!"

But she didn't look back.*

* * *

"Evans," a deep voice said.

Lily focused on her work. She didn't want to talk to him.

"Evans, I'm sorry," James said, sliding in the seat next to her. She closed her eyes and counted to ten silently. Then she opened them again and started to write the rest of her notes. "Evans?"

She snapped her head up. "_What_?!" The librarian glared at her but she didn't pay any attention. She was too focused on glaring at James.

He raised his hands in an act of innocence. "I just wanted to apologise."

"Fine. Apology accepted, leave me alone," she snapped, returning to her work. Her neck felt abnormally warm as James started to get up to leave. "Wait…" she sighed.

"Yeah?" he asked, half-raised from his seat.

"I'm sorry for snapping at you and calling you those horrible things," she said quietly. "It was really uncalled for."

He tried not to smile. "S'alright, Evans. I suppose I was a bit of a toe-rag, back there."

She looked down and laughed slightly. "Yeah, you were. But I still shouldn't have said it. How's your cheek?"

He shrugged, his hand touching his cheek gently. "It's fine. Remus mended it in about a second. Anyway, I'll leave you to it then. See you around." He stood up and started walking as Lily squeezed her eyes shut. She didn't want to ask him, but she really did need his help.

"Wait," she said again, louder this time. He turned around, looking extremely confused. "Can you help me for a sec?" She fiddled with her quill waiting for his response.

He grinned and walked back towards her. "What does the famous Lily Evans need my help for?"

She put her head into her hands, absolutely mortified. He wouldn't stop gloating after she said this. "I need your help with Transfiguration."

That wiped his smile off. "Really?" he asked incredulously. She nodded and he rubbed the back of his neck. "I thought you were going ask me to prank someone. I didn't know you were struggling with Transfiguration." She grimaced and noticing her look, James nodded. "But yeah, I'll help you." He scratched at his neck uncomfortably.

"Thank you," she said gratefully. "I'm not taking up any of your study time, am I?" She looked quite worried at the thought.

James started laughing until he realised she was serious. "I don't study," he said, as if it were an obvious fact.

Lily blew out a breath, her hair flying away from her. "'Course you don't," she muttered.

"What was that?" he asked, leaning forward.

She shook her head quickly. "Nothing, um so can we…?"

"Oh right, I'm meant to be helping you." He sat down next to her again. "Um, what do you need help with?" he asked, leaning into her to look at her notes.

"Animagi," she said, "I just don't understand it at all." She scratched the spine of the book, avoiding his curious eyes.

James beamed so widely, Lily was worried that his mouth would drop off. "That's the topic I know the best," he explained, his eyes twinkling.

Lily breathed a sigh of relief and ran a hand through her hair. "That's good then, so do you mind…?"

"'Course not. Okay, should we start from the beginning?" Lily shrugged and slowly James re-taught her about Animagi. She listened attentively and took notes, unsurprisingly, as the rest of the library kept shooting them furtive glances.

She started answering some past questions and he watched her answer them, giving her hints. She then handed him the parchment and biting on his lower lip, he went through them, writing little notes in the margins.

"Lily," a soft voice said. Lily looked around and saw Severus standing at the end of the table. She cast a look at James, but he was too engrossed in Lily's answers to notice anything else.

She crossed her legs and folded her arms, glaring up at him. "Yes?" she replied coldly. He flinched at her tone but she didn't stop glaring at him.

"Can I talk to you?" he asked, his hands shaking slightly. She set her chin. "Alone?"

She leant back, ready to snap at him but then James started saying, "Lily, you're getting the basics, just not the extent—oh." He looked up at the dark shape in front of him and scowled. "Snape." His voice had turned deeper.

"Potter," he replied shortly, teeth clenched. "Lily, can we talk?" His hands fisted by his sides.

Before Lily could answer, James swung back on his chair and drawled, "See, Snape, I'm in the middle of tutoring her. So if you could just leave, that'd be swell." He put his hands behind his head and lifted his chin up, waiting for him to retaliate.

Lily felt a flash of annoyance towards James but pushed it down. She really did need to get back to learning about Animagi. "Snape, I'll talk to you later. I need to study for tomorrow."

James' chair fell back on all four legs. His arms dropped from his head. "Transfiguration's tomorrow?!"

Lily rolled her eyes but laughed anyway. "Yeah." She looked back up at Snape and said, "I'll see you later, Snape." He winced at the use of his last name but slunk away.

She turned back to James, who was mumbling to himself. "What's wrong?" she asked concernedly, touching his arm softly.

His eyes met with hers. "I thought Transfiguration was the day after tomorrow. It just made my plans go out of whack." He rubbed his cheek, deep in thought.

"If you want you can go do whatever you want…" she said unsurely but he shook his head, lifting his hand to ruffle his hair up.

"Nah, it isn't important. Now, where was I?" He scanned her parchment and nodded to himself. "Right, so…" He started to teach her more about Animagi again and she listened intently, asking questions every so often.

After he finished teaching her, Lily grinned at him. "Thanks, James."

"No worries," he said easily. "I actually like Transfiguration. Ollivander said my wand was made for it, so that might have something to do with it."

Lily nodded and carefully placed her belongings back into her schoolbag. "What do you want to do after you leave Hogwarts?" she asked curiously.

He shrugged. "Dunno really. I mean, I have enough money that I wouldn't even need to work, so I'm not too fussed about it." He quickly checked the time on his watch before asking, "You?"

"Being an Auror would be pretty cool," she confessed. "But it would be so much work, and so dangerous."

James nodded. "Yeah, my dad was an Auror. He was hardly ever at home, but he loved doing it." He absentmindedly rubbed his neck.

"Oh did he retire?" Lily asked, zipping her bag closed.

James shook his head and looked down at his arms in his lap. "Nah, he died on a raid two years ago."

Lily's expression instantly turned remorseful. "Oh, I'm so sorry, James." He shrugged, looking embarrassed. She gave him a consoling pat on the arm. "If you ever want to talk, you can ask me," she offered. "I'm sure Sirius wouldn't be the best at talking about emotions and feelings," she joked, trying to make him smile.

It worked. He smiled slightly. "Yeah." He cleared his throat. "Although, his favourite animal is a unicorn." His eyes glinted mischievously.

"Really?" Lily asked, her eyebrows rising up in shock.

James snorted. "No." Lily blushed and pushed him slightly. He laughed and she joined in with him. "Hippogriffs," he said eventually.

"Hippogriffs, what?" Lily asked, cocking her head to the side.

"They're his favourite animal; hippogriffs." James shrugged. "In case you were wondering." The librarian came close to them and started to dust bookshelves.

Lily lowered her voice, noting the old woman's stare. "Should we head back to the common room? It's nearly curfew." James nodded and together, they started to trek up all the stairs towards the Gryffindor common room.

"So what's yours?" Lily asked curiously, slightly panting from all the stairs—she wasn't a person who exercised regularly.

"What's my what?" James asked, jumping over the trick stair.

Lily took a breath. "Favourite animal?"

He shrugged. "Dunno. Probably a stag. Are you okay?"

Lily had gone very red. "Yeah, just unfit. Why a stag?" A portrait they walked past laughed at her. She sent the portrait a scowl and turned back to James, who was trying not to laugh either.

"Here let me carry that for you," James offered, taking her bag. He swore as soon as he took the strap off her shoulder. "Blimey, Evans. What the hell do you have in here? Rocks?"

She laughed lightly, her face still pink. "I have a lot of textbooks. I didn't want to go back and forth." She tied her hair back, fanning herself.

James laughed. "Lily, you were in the library. I know I don't go in there that often, but I'm ninety per cent sure that it would have had the books you needed."

Lily pouted. "Yes, but I like mine more. I don't like borrowing books, it makes me feel weird." James rolled his eyes and Lily asked, "So, why a stag?"

He looked down at the ground. "I dunno…" Lily looked at him intently and he sighed, "It's kind of a personal reason actually," he said unsurely. He scratched his nose.

Lily blushed. "Oh, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have pried then." He waved it off as she continued, "If it makes you feel better, I like cats?"

James laughed loudly, relieved at the change of topic. "Of course you do. Why though?"

She grinned at him. "They're just so fluffy and cute! And you hardly have to look after them; they do everything on their own. My cat learnt to use the litter-box by himself! And since they sleep majority of the time, you don't need to worry about them running amuck." They finally reached the Gryffindor common room and Lily let out a loud breath. "I really need to start exercising," she said to herself.

"Nah, you aren't that unfit," James said to her. She smiled and looked down, her cheeks going red again. She tucked a piece of red hair behind her ear, embarrassed. "Hornbeam," he said to the Fat Lady, who was looking at the pair with a small smile.

She swung open for them saying, "You're awfully close to curfew, dears. Next time you should be a bit earlier!"

"Yeah, yeah," James said, rolling his eyes. She scoffed but before she could reply he shut the frame closed. They heard an indignant shout. "She's always going off at me for being late," he explained in response to Lily's confused look.

"Ah, okay then. Well, I better put my stuff back." She made a motion to her bag and James handed it back to her. She grabbed it and hauled it up on her shoulder. "Thanks for carrying it."

"No problem." He cleared his throat. "Night then, Evans." He ran a hand through his hair, making it stick up more than it already was. Lily resisted the urge to flatten it down.

"Goodnight, James," she replied before walking back up to the girls dorm. She could feel him staring at her but she resisted turning around to see him. She dumped her bag on the bed and decided to have a very cold shower. She'd been blushing an awful lot that evening.

After she'd gotten into her pyjamas, she sat on her bed and started to read through the Transfiguration notes. She gave Dorcas and Marlene—who were quizzing each other—a quick smile before closing her curtains, hoping they wouldn't be offended. She picked up her notes again and shut everything out and focused solely on how an Animagus transforms. She was nearly finished before Mary ripped her curtains open, looking extremely dishevelled. Lily jumped violently before realising it was only her friend.

"Where have _you_ been, Mary?" Lily asked, once she'd recovered. She smirked as Mary went red.

"I'll tell you later. Snape's standing out the front of the common room asking for you. He threatened to sleep there if you wouldn't come out." Lily groaned. "If you want I can hex him for you?" she offered, looking entirely too hopeful. Lily noticed that her friend had her skirt on backwards but she decided not to say anything about it.

Lily placed the notes on her bedside table and got up off her bed. "Nah, I'll go talk to him. I did promise to talk to him later. I just forgot."

Mary nodded and gave her a hug. Lily wrinkled her nose. "Mary, you smell way too strongly of men's cologne."

She let go immediately. "Sorry… Make sure to be quick, I need to tell you about this guy! You'll be so shocked to hear who it was!"

Lily nodded and wrapped a dressing gown around her body, tying the knot around her middle. "I won't be long, see you soon." Mary nodded and waved to her as she walked down the stairs.

No one was in the common room so she could leave without anyone asking any questions. She opened the door and saw Severus sitting by the wall, looking incredibly remorseful. She nearly forgave him for a second but the moment was chased away when she heard the word '_Mudblood_' ring in her ears.

"Snape," she said shortly. He scrambled up and immediately started to apologise. She answered him curtly, snapping at him. She felt no pity anymore; he was someone who she shouldn't waste time with anyway. He started to say that he didn't mean it but she'd had enough. She shook her head at him and with one last glare; she climbed back through the portrait hole.

She went to storm back up the stairs but she heard a surprised, "Evans?"

She jumped and shrieked slightly. She looked around and saw James on the last step in just pyjama bottoms. "Oh, James. It's only you. What are you doing?" she asked once her heart rate had slowed back down.

He ignored her question and asked his own, "Are you okay?"

She smiled at him. "Yeah, I'm good. Thanks." He smiled at her and padded down the stairs. "What are you doing down here?" she repeated.

He shrugged. "Can't sleep." Lily was torn between going up the stairs to talk to Mary or to stay down here and talk to James. She took a long look at James, the way his pants hung low on his narrow hips, showing his thin torso. He also had a few odd-looking scars.

She decided to stay with him instead, but thought she'd better explain to Mary where she'd gone. "Hold on, I'll be right back. I just need to do something real quick." She dashed up the stairs, ignoring his protests that she should stay up there. She went to Mary's bed and pushed her curtains back to tell her she'd be gone for a few minutes more. However, she found a sprawled Mary who was snoring loudly with her mouth wide open. Lily stifled a giggle and said goodnight to Dorcas and Marlene, who were both hopping into bed.

"Where are you going?" Marlene asked her curiously, raising her eyebrows suggestively.

Lily laughed, fiddling with her left earring. "Just going to talk to someone. Nothing like that. Night."

"Night, Lily," she replied, starting to close her eyes.

Dorcas muttered, "Use protection." Lily blushed and Marlene hopped out her bed to high-five her best friend. She rolled her eyes at the two of them and walked back down the stairs.

"You don't have to stay here, I was just going to go over my notes," he said, lifting up a roll of parchment.

Lily sat down next to him. "I thought you didn't study?" she teased.

He looked around him in mock suspicion. "Don't tell anyone this, but I always study the night before. It seems to pay off." She giggled and he grinned, pleased to have made her laugh.

"Here, I'll quiz you," Lily offered, holding her hand out for the parchment. He reluctantly handed it to her and she squinted, looking at his writing. "I can't read this at all." He laughed loudly and she shot him an embarrassed smile. "Sorry." She returned the parchment.

He waved it off. "No, it's fine. A lot of professors keep telling me to write neater as well."

Smiling, Lily said, "I've got neat writing, I could always help you with that. As a kind of payment for helping me with Transfiguration."

Without thinking, James blurted, "There are other ways to pay me back." Immediately Lily scowled and made to get up. "No, wait. That was stupid, Lily. I'm so sorry. It's late and—"

"Save it, Potter," she snapped.

He grabbed her arm. "No, come on sit down. I promise I won't say anything else stupid. I'm really sorry," he said earnestly. Lily hesitated. She felt like she was going to catch on fire from the intensity of his gaze. He let her arm go and looked down. "It's alright, you can go to bed. Sorry again. G'night, Lily."

She surprised him by sitting down again. "Nah, it's okay. That was basically asking for it." His mouth twitched and she shoved him slightly. "Stop taking everything I say in a dirty way, gosh."

He laughed again and Lily joined in. "Lily, it's past midnight and my brain has gone hazy. I think I could turn anything into a dirty joke right now."

"Oh really?" she challenged, crossing her legs underneath her. He gave her a look that clearly said, 'Try me'. She smirked and searched for the least sexual word in the English dictionary. "Curdle."

James gave her a look. "That doesn't work. Curdle is a gross word."

Lily laughed again. "Yeah, it is. But you can't turn it into a dirty joke, can you?"

James scoffed, "Curdle. There. That's the joke." He pushed his glasses back up to his nose and waited for her response with half a grin.

Lily stared at him, scratching her nose. "That isn't dirty though!"

He stretched his legs out in front of him with a satisfied smile. "Yeah it is. I didn't specify what dirty it had to be. You just assumed it'd be sexual. Horny are we, Evans?"

She blushed and covered her face with a strange noise that sounded like, "Garfunkle". She peeked at him through her fingertips and accused, "You implied it though!"

"Did I though?" he said, waggling his eyebrows. Lily poked his arm and he laughed. The two then talked for a very long time before Lily started to yawn. "Maybe we better go to bed?" James asked. Lily sent him a smirk and he laughed. "Now who's being the dirty one?"

"I never said anything. Horny are we, Potter?" she echoed him from the beginning of the conversation. He rolled his eyes good-naturedly and got up off the couch, holding out his hand for her to take it.

"Come on, Evans. We have our Transfiguration O.W.L tomorrow; I think we'll need at least some sleep." She took his hand reluctantly, letting him haul her up.

"I suppose we should. Anyway, goodnight. This was fun. We should do it again some time." She smiled at him.

He winked. "We should." She laughed, shook her head and walked back to the dorm with a big grin on her face. "Night, Evans," he shouted. She lifted her hand up as a goodnight wave, pushing herself up the stairs to her bed. He was still smiling when she turned back around.

It was two in the morning; she had two O.W.L's today, she had an extremely important exam tomorrow, she'd lost one of her best friends by being called a Mudblood and spent the night with James Potter of all people.

But all in all, she'd had a pretty good night.

* * *

* Excerpt taken from Order of the Phoenix, page 571 of _Snape's Worst Memory_ [Australian/English version] by our lovely J. K. Rowling.

So, there's going to be 9 chapters of this, and I have the first seven written so updates shall be quick! It's also not going to be in chronological order, because I was strange and wrote it differently and each chapter will be able to be read as a stand-alone, although some themes/ideas do carry on, but if you want to only read one chapter, you can.

Anywho, hope you all enjoyed it!

- Kayla. :)


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Fourth Year 1975

"Mary, no," Lily protested, folding her arms stubbornly.

Mary put her hands on her hips, her blue eyes glaring at Lily. "Lily, you promised!"

Lily scrunched her nose up. "But I don't _want_ to!" she cried out, tucking her red hair behind her ears. Mary rolled her eyes and grabbed her best friend's hand, dragging her to the party the Gryffindor boys decided to throw for Remus' 15th birthday. "Maarrryy!" Lily whined, digging her heels into the ground.

Mary dropped her wrist. "Lily, everyone's going!"

Lily rolled her eyes and sat back down on her bed, crossing her arms. "It's only the Gryffindor boys and girls! It isn't that big of a deal" she shot back.

Mary ran a hand through her dull brown hair. "Remus wants us there! He's really started to open up; you don't want to let him down, do you?" Mary asked, approaching to Lily's sensitive side.

It worked. Lily chewed on her bottom lip and then sighed loudly. "Fine. We'll go." Mary grinned and clapped her hands together before bounding to Lily to link arms with her.

"It's going to be fun, Lily," she said, nudging her slightly. "They're the ones that play pranks and tricks!" she said, her eyes shining excitedly.

Lily bit her lip before beaming as well. "Yeah, it probably will be fun. Is it just in their dorm?" she asked.

Mary shook her head. "No. They said to meet us out at the Entrance Hall." Lily frowned but didn't say anything and together, they made their way to meet the four boys.

When they finally arrived, both Lily and Mary were quite out of breath. Dorcas and Marlene were already chatting to Remus, talking about the night that they were preparing for.

"Finally!" Sirius said, "What took you guys so long? And why are you panting?"

Mary answered breathlessly, "Unfit. Sorry we're late, Lily here needed some convincing." Lily shot her a scowl but Mary ignored it. James smiled at Lily, but went unnoticed by the red head. "Happy birthday, Remus!" She gave him a hug to his surprise.

"Thanks," he said, patting her back awkwardly. Mary let go and Lily stepped up to also give him a hug and wish him happy birthday. He responded just as awkwardly and then Peter clapped his hands.

"So, should we get going?" he asked, looking at James. James shrugged and Sirius answered for him.

"Yeah, come on. Curfew's nearly up." He started walking out but then Marlene stopped him.

"How are we going to get back in?" she asked nervously. Dorcas folded her arms and Lily stared at the four boys, who shot each other mischievous smirks.

Mary—noticing the boys' cheeky looks—asked unsurely, "We are coming back in, aren't we?"

"Ah, MacDonald, so little faith. But no, we aren't," Sirius replied, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

"I'm _not_ going out there, I've heard it's haunted!" Dorcas said in hushed tones. The four boys burst out laughing and Dorcas said indignantly, "Oi! Quit your laughing!"

Lily said loudly, "Okay then, we just won't join you then!" Everyone chorused, "NO!" Lily looked incredibly smug as the rest of them realised she was just bluffing, but Mary still stared at her suspiciously.

"Alright, alright," James said, "It isn't haunted. We're going to the Shrieking Shack, we always go there and it's usually us making those noises," he admitted, opening his arms wide. "Happy?"

Marlene muttered to Lily, "Not particularly." Lily fought to keep a smile off her face. Louder, she said, "Okay then. Lead the way."

The four boys obliged, talking amongst themselves loudly. The girls lagged behind, whispering to each other about this 'secret party'. They were worried they were going to get in trouble but were still so curious to see what these boys did all the time—after all, they were always talking about the 'adventures' they had.

They reached the slightly swaying Whomping Willow and Remus winked at them. "Watch," he said, pulling out his wand. Dorcas grabbed Marlene and Mary's hands in fright. Dorcas was very brave usually, but ghosts and the unknown absolutely terrified her. Lily watched them, evidently torn between curiosity and terror.

Remus charmed a small twig to press a knot on the end of the branch and suddenly all movement stopped from the tree. Peter gestured for them to come closer. "Come quickly, just keep walking right to the end," he said, showing a small hole for them to crawl through.

They didn't move and Sirius swore. "Come on, the Tree isn't going to stay still for ages. Hurry up, we'll follow straight away!" The four still didn't move.

Mary snapped, "Why don't you guys go first then?!"

James rolled his eyes but before he could retort anything, Remus intervened. "Fine, I'll go first. Okay?" He pushed himself through the hole and after seeing him go through; the girls were more at ease to follow him.

Lily was left to last and she turned around to glare at the three boys. "Don't you dare stare at my bum when I go through." She specifically glared at James.

"Evans, I'm appalled you'd ever think I would—" James started saying, his hand at his chest in mock-horror but Sirius interrupted him.

"James, stop lying. We'd all stare at your bum though, in all honesty." He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes, trying not to laugh.

Peter squawked indignantly. "I wouldn't! Lily, I swear I wouldn't!" he said, looking at her seriously.

She laughed. "It's okay, Peter. I'm not worried about you so much, you're too nice." He grinned at her and Sirius shoved him playfully. Lily then forced them to turn around before squeezing herself through the tight entrance. She made a face as she crawled on the dirt, thankful she decided to wear shorts instead of trousers. She called back, "You can come in now!"

As soon as she called out, a body flew into the tunnel, slamming into her. Lily heard a swear word and then an, "I'm so sorry, Evans! Are you okay?!" He got off her and put as much distance between them. She got off the floor, wiping her now-brown blouse.

She nodded. "Yeah, I am. My shirt isn't though." She grimaced and James looked incredibly apologetic.

"I'm really sorry," he repeated. She waved him off, telling him it was okay and continued walking to the end like Peter said. When she finally arrived Mary shrieked.

"Ew! What the hell is on you, Lily?!" She stared at her shirt, which was once white, with her nose scrunched up. Marlene laughed loudly at her and Dorcas sat in the corner, hugging herself, looking around nervously. Remus was looking for something in the corner of the room.

James came up behind her. "I accidentally fell on her. Here, Evans." She turned around and he pointed his wand to her shirt and muttered, "_Scourigfy_." The dirt washed away and he looked very pleased with himself.

"Thanks, James," Lily said, looking at her white-again shirt. He was about to respond but then Peter and Sirius came walking through the doorway.

"Ah, Remus, looking for Butterbeers?" Sirius asked, shoving his hands in his pockets with his thumbs sticking out.

He didn't respond but instead brought a case of Butterbeer out. "I've got the Butterbeers," he said happily, grinning at all of them.

Dorcas narrowed her eyes. "Where did you get them from? Our last Hogsmeade trip was over a month ago."

James tapped his nose. "Ask no questions and we'll tell you no lies. Now, who wants a drink?" Everyone did and he handed them all one each. They graciously accepted and started to drink.

Sirius sat down and encouraged everyone to sit in a circle. They all sat down and started to talk about Hogwarts, and the impending war. They were only 14—some 15—but they had a weight on their shoulders that wouldn't lift until it ended—that's if it ever ended.

Sirius discussed about the way his parents and family were dealing with it, how they were _excited_ about it, not noticing that a few of them felt ill about the way they talked about Muggleborns—especially Lily and Mary.

"Sirius!" James said loudly, his voice cracking. "Shut up."

Sirius looked offended but James twitched his head ever so slightly to the two girls, who had paled considerably. He swallowed and muttered, "Sorry MacDonald and Evans."

"No, it's okay," Lily replied, her voice uncharacteristically high. "It's probably good that you're telling us this, we know what we're up against." She smiled tightly at them and Mary nodded, also looking determined.

"You're going to fight?" Peter asked, shocked. They nodded and he whistled. "Wow, that's pretty brave of you," he said appreciatively, raising his Butterbeer up.

Dorcas asked confusedly, "Wait, don't you want to fight?" She looked around the room and Peter shrugged.

"No, not really. I don't want to get killed, and I don't want my family or friends to get killed," he said simply, a slight blush rising on his cheeks as everyone stared at him.

Remus shook his head. "Mate, we've got to fight. We've got to fight for what's right, do you think Voldemort—" He ignored the flinches and gasps from across the room. "—will let people live just because they didn't get involved? He doesn't give a damn who he kills, whether they fight or not. It's a matter of doing what's right, no matter the consequence."

The room went silent in appreciation of Remus' speech. It was true and they knew it. James broke it by saying, "My parents told me—" The three boys snorted and he rolled his eyes and conceded, "Okay. I overheard my parents talking about how they wanted to start an organisation, like Voldemort's—" He ignored the twitches that went across the room. "—followers. But we'll do the opposite. We'll recruit more and more, and fight him until it's over." He paused to take a sip of his drink. "And I want to be a part of that. We should all join together; make a promise that we're always going to look out for each other."

Lily was very surprised to see the annoying boy who had been bugging her earlier talk like this. She wondered if this was the real James Potter. She found herself saying, "Yeah. We should. We've got some great witches and wizards right in this room. Dorcas especially." Dorcas blushed and Lily sent her a grin, knowing what a talented witch her friend was. She knew when she grew up, she would do great things.

The rest of them started to get excited and Peter was finally convinced of what to do. He knew it was right and wanted to join his friends in defeating the most evil wizard of time.

They started talking about how they would defeat Voldemort and what they'd yell. They started laughing as James and Sirius, did a "duet" together, making a song up how they would throw celebrations with extravagant fireworks that Filibuster just created.

They were doing a dance and the whole room was laughing, some nearly crying from their hopeless dancing. Mary wheezed, "It's like you guys have two left feet!"

Sirius had been dancing on a stack of chairs, precariously placed on an old box. He abruptly stopped dancing and pouted. "That was mean, MacDonald. Apologise to James and me."

James, still dancing on the table, agreed with him. "Yeah, words hurt, Maccas." She scowled at the nickname but he grinned at her, and did a funny dance move to make her laugh.

She huffed and apologised. Sirius winked at her and started to dance again, but he lost his balance and with a scream, he landed with a loud _thump_ on the wooden floor. He groaned and rolled, holding his arms. James jumped down to check on his best mate.

"Sirius, are you okay?!" he asked, kneeling beside him. Sirius nodded and James poked him to see if he'd cry out. He didn't so he stood back up and said, "He's fine!"

Marlene, who had not been paying attention, turned around and asked, "Why is Sirius on the floor?"

Before James could respond, Sirius answered, "I thought I'd lie on the floor and writhe in pain for a while," he grunted, "It relaxes me."

"It does? Oh—you're being sarcastic. That's a good sign probably,"* Mary said, trying not to laugh.

Remus snorted and told them not to panic because he was very overdramatic. At that, Sirius got up, still holding his arm, and whined, "Remus, that hurt more than the fall."

Dorcas snorted. "Remus, whatever do you mean? Sirius isn't dramatic!" The room started to laugh again at Sirius' expense, and he didn't look too happy. However, he couldn't keep his façade of being annoyed up so he joined in, grabbing everyone another Butterbeer.

Slowly, but surely everyone started to fall asleep in the dingy shack. It was cold but with blankets and heating charms, they were able to keep warm. Surprisingly, the only two left awake were Lily and James.

James whispered, "Do you want to go outside and talk?" Lily nodded and he grabbed a few blankets, letting her lead the way. They wriggled out the hole and stayed a fair distance away from the tree, in order to not get hit. James handed Lily a blanket, gave one to himself and wrapped another over the both of them. Lily found that she did not mind this.

James looked at her. "You know how before, we were talking about the war?" She nodded and he continued, "Are you scared to fight?"

She looked up at the sky, revelling in the bright stars that she never saw at home. There were a few clouds, but in the gaps, the stars shone brightly. The moon cast an eerie glow around them and everything around them was silently still.

"I don't know," she said finally. She toyed with the corner of the red blanket that covered the both of them. "I am, but I don't want to just sit and watch as things happen around me." James nodded and she tucked her knees under her chin, deep in thought. "What about you?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, but I've known all my life that something like this was going to happen. My parents are heavily involved in the Ministry and Auror business and I overhear things. Sometimes it scares me but mostly it gives me a thrill, because I'll be doing _something_ for once, instead of sitting around and taking notes. I'll be out there, protecting everyone I love."

Lily had been staring at him the whole time and at the end of his speech, she turned her eyes upward again. "The stars are pretty, aren't they?" she said, for lack of a better response.

"They are," he said appreciatively. He'd known about Astronomy all his life, due to his parents teaching him about it before he went to school and then at school he had lessons on it. However, he didn't remember all the different constellations. He said, "If I was Sirius, I could probably tell you all the different names for the constellations. I never paid attention to those, but Sirius used to. He quite liked it. Especially because he's named after the brightest star."

Lily looked at him in surprise. "Sirius is named after a star?" She tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"Yeah." James nodded and looked back at the sky. "His whole family is named after constellations, or stars. Except his cousin Narcissa. She's named after a flower. Dunno why, though." Lily looked thoughtful and James said, "A lot of old Pureblood families name their children after stars. I think it's just a traditional thing."

Lily smiled and asked, "What about you? Why the name James?"

He shrugged. "Dunno, I guess my parents really liked it." She laughed and he grinned. "What about you; why Lily?"

Lily shrugged, deep in thought. "My sister's called Petunia, so I think Mum just liked flowers or something. It's sweet though, Mum has petunias and lilies in her garden, just to remind her of us when we're away."

James smiled and they were silent for a bit again. But it wasn't uncomfortable; they just sat there and pondered about the past.

Lily said quietly, "It's sad, isn't it?" James looked at her confusedly and she said, "We're 15 and we're already thinking about fighting and dying for people."

"14," James corrected absentmindedly. Lily gave him a look and he laughed. She laughed too but then grew serious again.

"Fine. 14 and 15. But the point remains: we're prepared to die and ready to join an organisation that is basically a death wish."

James nodded, realising her point. "Yeah, I guess it is sad." She looked at him and smiled. "But you know," he found himself saying, "we could develop a new place that's free from all these terrible things. If we fight, our children—" He blushed and stuttered, "Not—not like _our_ children, but—"

Lily interrupted him with a laugh. "No, I know what you mean. The next generation?" she asked, laughing at his bright red face.

He rubbed the back of his neck, laughing uncomfortably. "Yeah, that's what I meant. But I was saying, the next generation will be able to live happier lives, and I think _that's_ what I'll be fighting for. So our—_my_children will be able to have a normal life."

Lily stared at him, gobsmacked. "I never thought of it that way," she murmured. He shrugged and she said louder, "Yeah. That's a good reason to fight. Not for yourself, but for others." He smiled at her and then she sighed.

"What's wrong?" he asked her, looking concerned.

She hesitated. "I was just thinking, if I wasn't a witch, what would life be like now? I'd probably be worrying about what normal 15—or 14—" she added at James' look. "—year olds worry about. Homework, boys, you know…"

He didn't know what to say to that so he gently touched her shoulder, in a comforting gesture. She wasn't looking at him, but kept her eyes focused on the large castle in front of her, the one that she had called home for nearly five years.

"It's better though," she said, as if from a distance. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw James crinkle his eyebrows in confusion. "It's better this world, I'm glad I'm a part of it. I want to fight and I want to make the world a happier place. It's better," she repeated firmly.

"Yeah, it really is," he said, looking at her intently.

* * *

* quote from the amazing Cassandra Clare from her equally amazing book _City of Ashes_! (Chapter 15: _The Serpent's Tooth_, page 290 - Australian version)

Hope you enjoyed! :)


	3. Chapter 3

"Hey, Evans," a low voice said from behind, his breath tickling her ear.

She shivered and smiled coyly. "Hey, Potter." She felt his lips press against her neck. She stretched her neck so he could access it easier. He grinned and mumbled something. "I didn't hear that," Lily breathed, her hand clenching around the quill.

He brushed a piece of hair from her neck and said in a loud whisper, "Madam Legere is glaring at us." Lily cast a glance to the old librarian, who was indeed glaring at them. "Should we go?" he murmured, his hands hugging her small waist.

She groaned. "James, I have to do this essay for Slughorn. It's due tomorrow and because of your ability to make me procrastinate, I'm doing it last minute. I'll be up soon," she promised. He pouted but she pulled away from him, trying to concentrate on her assignment.

He sighed and pulled up the seat on her right. "I'll help you," he offered, looking at her essay. She snorted and he pretended to be offended. "What? You think I can't help you?" he asked.

Lily leant forward and planted a quick kiss on his lips. "No, dear. You're too distracting and you hate Potions." She pulled back, grinning cheekily. They heard a loud cough from the opposite side of the library but they both ignored it, being too wrapped up in each other.

He placed his arm on the back of her chair, leaning forward. Lily grinned and bit her lip, looking at his greedily. He winked. "You want to be distracted, Evans." She felt her stomach jump at the sound of his voice and he smirked. "You don't want to do your Potions, do you?" She shook her head a fraction and he laughed loudly, making her jump. He leant backwards. "Well, tough. Do your work. I'll sit here and help you."

Lily scowled. "That's just mean, Potter." He gave her a chaste kiss before leaning back again. "James," she whined, "I don't want to do this."

He smiled at her and she looked at him pleadingly. "Lily, if you do this, then you can do—"

"Excuse me," a shrill voice interrupted James' bribe. "Are you two going to work or just canoodle here? The library is a place of _work_! Not for you two to do your business!" Madam Legere placed her hands on her hips, scowling at the couple.

Lily blushed, her whole face blooming a bright red. "I-I'm so sorry, Ma'am." She fiddled with the ends of her hair nervously. "Um, we'll stop 'canoodling.'" James snorted loudly, trying to maintain a straight face but Lily's swift kick in the shin made him quiet.

Madam Legere narrowed her eyes at the two of them. "If I see you two doing this again, you will be banned from the library!" Lily's eyes went wide but before she could protest, the stuffy librarian trotted away to yell at a pair of second years making paper planes.

Lily turned to James, looking very annoyed. "James, please just leave so I can get this bloody essay done." She huffed and picked up her quill, dipping it in the ink and hovering it over her parchment with only three words on it; the title and her name.

James chuckled. "Lily, you and I both know as soon as I leave you'll close the inkwell up, put your quill down and either fall asleep or stare off into space." Lily scowled, obviously frustrated that he knew her so well. He put his arm back around her chair and said softly, "Okay, so where do you need to start?"

She sighed and told him the first thing she thought of. He looked at her and motioned to her quill. She wrote it down and together they did her assignment. She placed her hand on his knee as she wrote and every so often he pressed kisses to the side of her head.

She had finally gotten halfway through her essay when they heard Madam Legere screech, "Library's closing!"

Lily groaned and said, "I don't want to go to the Common Room, there's all screaming little firsties." She grimaced and James laughed, packing her belongings into her bag—carefully of course, she'd maim him otherwise.

"Come on, we'll go to the Head's Office," he said, standing up and grabbing her bag. Lily knew better than to argue, he liked carrying her stuff. She stood up and straightened her skirt, picking up her half-finished essay and quill.

"Is that where you do your homework?" Lily asked curiously. "I'd always wondered where you got off to." He nodded and she said in surprise, "That's actually really clever, James."

He laughed. "Thanks, Lily." She grabbed his hand and pulled it towards her, giving him an apologetic grin.

She said softly, "I didn't mean it like that." She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close, giggling at the way he hummed appreciatively. She twirled her fingers in his perpetually messy hair and looked him in the eyes.

Hazel stared at the green attentively. "Lily?" he said huskily. She hummed. "We need to go, I can hear footsteps."

She huffed and pulled away, pouting. "You aren't any fun." He laughed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He reached for her hand again but she recoiled, holding it against herself.

James rolled his eyes. "Lily, you need to do this assignment. You'd be the exact same if it was me in this position," he pointed out. Lily sighed, knowing he was right. She finally agreed and together, they made their way to the Head's Office. He held her hand loosely the entire time and Lily felt herself grinning like a fool; a year ago she would have chastised herself for being so silly. Now, she couldn't care less.

They arrived at the Head's Office and Lily sat down on the desk and glared at her parchment. "You know what, James? Slughorn loves me, he won't—"

James rolled his eyes. "Lily, just do it. You've nearly finished!" She scowled and started to scratch her quill against the rough parchment.

James pulled up a chair and sat next to her, helping her as much as he could. Lily Evans was very smart, in many ways, but she also found many ways to procrastinate. She struggled just sitting down and _doing_ a task, as her mind often drifted elsewhere.

James knew this, and had made a pact to himself not to impact her 'studies'. Mainly because if she did fail, she'd probably lock herself in her room and not come out. James was rather fond of her.

He rested his head against the desk and watched her quill scrawl words he didn't know. Whenever she stopped writing for more than thirty seconds, James helped her get back on track. Lily had nearly finished but then she ended up being stuck on one sentence. She started to ask James, "What's another word for—" She broke off when she saw him sleeping on the desk, his mouth lolling open.

She covered her mouth with her hand to stop her from laughing. She plucked his glasses off as they were digging into the side of his face, and she could just see them snapping and cutting him. She ran a hand through his hair and he shifted in his sleep, and she nearly melted.

James looked so much younger when he was asleep, she thought. He reminded her of a tiny lamb, but if she let him know that he'd scowl and try to assert his manliness.

She bit her lip, grinning and went back to work. He was sweet enough to help her with her work. She did the same with him, of course, but he did it for the subjects he hated and dropped as well. When she finally finished the essay, she looked at the watch on his wrist. She scowled; it was one of those strange wizard ones. She'd never gotten the hang of understanding them.

She tapped James softly, whispering, "James, wake up." He groaned and buried his head in his arms, covering his watch up. Lily sighed and poked him gently. "James," she said, louder this time.

He grunted and tilted his head to peer blearily at her. He squinted and said in a hoarse voice, "Lily?"

She laughed and handed him back his glasses. "James, we have to go to bed. Come on, I'll help you." He rubbed his eyes and put his round glasses back on. He mumbled something incomprehensible. Lily leant forward and said, "What was that?"

He yawned. "I said, 'Did you finish your essay?'" He rubbed his face and then ran a hand through his hair, yawning again.

"Yeah, I did. Thank you," she said. He smiled at her and she hitched her bag up on her shoulders. "Come on, then. Let's get you to bed."

"If I wasn't so tired, I'd make a joke about that," James mumbled, getting to his feet clumsily. Lily rolled her eyes and put an arm around his waist. James then looked at his watch and swore loudly. "It's 3 in the morning!" he said in response to Lily's look.

She clapped a hand over her mouth. "Oh my! James, I'm so sorry for making you stay up with me!" He waved it off, protesting that it wasn't a bad thing.

Lily still looked guilty by the time they reached the Gryffindor tower. James wearily mumbled the password and the Fat Lady squawked indignantly. "What are you two doing up?! A woman has to sleep you know!"

Lily sighed, "You're a portrait." At that, the Fat Lady made another annoyed noise but the two climbed through the hole without another word. Lily gave James a hug and said, "Goodnight."

He rested his head on hers and said, "Come and sleep in my bed." He looked extremely hopeful and Lily didn't_really_ want to go up in her dorm, mostly because she knew Mary would hound her the next morning. Logically, she knew it would be a lot worse if she didn't go up to the dorm but it was three in the morning and Lily lacked logic at three in the morning.

She shrugged and accepted his offer and he practically bounced up the stairs—his tiredness practically forgotten. She tried not to laugh so she wouldn't wake anyone else up. They slowly tiptoed in the room and James threw her a baggy t-shirt and boxer shorts. He closed the curtain around them so she could get changed without worrying if Sirius was secretly awake and waiting to look at her in her underwear.

"Oi!" a whispered voice said. James rolled his eyes, knowing it was Sirius. Lily just giggled and pulled the large shirt over her head. "What are you two doing?" he asked. Even though they weren't able to see him, they knew he was waggling his eyebrows up and down.

Lily threw open the curtains and wrinkled her nose at him. "Nothing, actually. I just wanted to sleep." As James was behind her, she didn't see his disappointed look, but Sirius did.

"Well, I think Prongs here had a different idea," he said, winking at James. James raised his hands up in innocence but Lily just rolled her eyes.

"Of course he did, he's a 17 year old boy." Sirius laughed and James poked her, disgruntled. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and a small smile tugged at his face. "Anyway, I'm going to sleep. Feel free to keep chatting, but I'm exhausted. From my essay," she added in response to Sirius' cheeky look.

"Sure," he said, dragging out the 'e'. Lily just rolled her eyes and hopped into James' bed, curling up. "Night, then."

"Night," she yawned. "If you guys are going to talk, just make sure you keep quiet. Remus will kill you and I will hold you down." She closed her eyes, grinning.

The two friends laughed and then James said goodnight to Sirius and closed his curtains. Sirius made one last dirty joke and also closed his curtains. James got into the other side of the bed, wrapping his arms around Lily, who was unusually warm.

As soon as his arms were around her, she turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I never really got to thank you for helping me with the essay," she breathed, kissing him softly.

He smirked and tightened his grip on her. He hummed appreciatively and she kissed him again, playing with the ends of his hair. She rolled on top of him and pressed herself closer to him. "I love you," she murmured against his lips.

He froze. She broke away from him and had a look of confusion mixed with hurt. He blinked at her and she said in a small voice, "Don't you love me?"

"I do," he said honestly. "I—I love you." Lily grinned and hugged him again. "What shocked me was that you said it _now_."

"What's wrong with now?" she asked confusedly. She ran her hands through his hair, her fingers getting caught in the knots.

He shrugged. "I don't know… Don't girls usually want a massive romantic-y thing? Y'know the big shebang? Not at three in the morning when you're on top of me?"

Lily rolled her eyes. "No. That's for a proposal—not that you should be proposing to me. We've only been dating for three months."

James laughed and she shook from it. "I got that, don't worry." Lily grinned and he brushed his fingers through her long red hair. "Imagine if 12 year old me could see us right now."

Lily laughed. "Imagine if _my_ 12 year old self could see us right now. I think they'd both have a heart attack, but for different reasons." James laughed and flipped them over so he was hovering over her.

"I'm wide awake now," he remarked. Lily laughed and gave him a kiss.

"Me too. I think we both have insomnia." James crinkled his eyebrows and Lily clarified, "Insomnia is when you can't sleep." She brought him closer towards her.

"Ah," he said in understanding. "We could make use of that?" he suggested, grinning cheekily.

Lily licked her lips. "We could, actually." She leant close to him and nudged his nose with hers. He lowered himself to get closer to her but then she quickly rolled out from underneath him, smirking. He fell to the bed, and while fixing his glasses, he stared at her reproachfully.

"Why'd you do that for?" He pouted at her. His hair was sticking up at odd angles and Lily tried patting it down to no avail.

She threw her head back and silently laughed. "You said we should make use of the extra time we have, right?"

James looked confused. "Yes and I was implying—"

"I know what you were implying," Lily cut him off impatiently. She pulled her hair into a ponytail and said, "But_I_ think we should use the time to study." She giggled at the expression of his face.

James groaned and rolled onto his back. He plucked his glasses off and put them on the bedside table next to him. "If you're going to study, I'm going to sleep then." He closed his eyes and put his arms behind his head.

Lily straddled him again. "Aw, James. Don't be like that; I know you won't be able to sleep anyway." He peered at her; his eyes squinted because he couldn't see.

Lily rolled her eyes and put his glasses back on his face. He huffed. "You're right; I won't be able to sleep. So what do you want to study? Me?" He winked at her.

She grinned but before she said anything, their curtains ripped open. Lily jumped and James groaned because she kneed him in a sensitive spot. Sirius didn't notice but just had a look of fury on his face. "Okay. You have been whispering, which is nice because you're trying to be quiet but it ISN'T WORKING!" He shouted the last part.

"Shh!" Lily hushed him. "You'll wake the others up!"

He growled, "I don't care. Just shut up, _please_, it's four in the fucking morning."

James winced, still in pain. "Sorry, mate." Lily looked at the both of them apologetically.

"I'm sorry to both of you," she said earnestly. "I didn't mean it, I swear!" Sirius just ruffled Lily's hair and punched James in the shoulder before flopping down back on his bed, his mouth hanging open.

"Lily?" James asked, his voice higher than normal. She looked at him and he said, "Can you please get off me? You're kind of hurting me…"

She clambered off him straight away. "I'm so sorry, James. I'll get you a potion for the pain," she offered, kissing his cheek.

He scrunched up his face. "It's in the bathroom." Lily bounded to the bathroom and found a potion to stop pain. She hoped it was the right one. She needn't have worried, however because James snatched it out of her hands and drank it greedily.

"Thanks, Lily," he said, after the potion had finally taken effect.

She replied easily, "No worries." She quickly kissed him on the lips and when she pulled away, she read the side effects of the potion.

_May affect person's sleep._

"Uh-oh," Lily said, looking up at James. He had his eyes closed but his glasses were still on.

"What?" he grunted.

Lily rolled her eyes. Her boyfriend really was an ape. "I think this stops you from sleeping." She showed him the bottle.

James sat up quickly and looked at the bottle. He swore and said, "Should we even bother trying to sleep?" Lily shrugged and he asked, "Do you want to go down to the common room?"

Lily nodded while getting out of James' bed. They walked out and heard Sirius mutter, "Finally." James rolled his eyes and Sirius chucked something at them. He picked it up, and blushing furiously he threw it back at Sirius before Lily could see the small foil item.

"What was that?" she asked curiously. He shook his head and she pouted but let it go as they made their way to the common room. James conjured a couple of blankets up and wrapped themselves in them.

"What do you want to do?" Lily asked, her voice sounding strange to her own ears as they'd been whispering for an hour.

James shrugged. "Dunno. Wanna play a game of Gobstones?" he suggested.

Lily grinned and James waved his wand again as a set of Gobstones came flying towards them. They sat themselves down in front of the dwindling fire and started to play. At first they were quite unenthusiastic but as the game progressed, they got more and more excited about it.

"HAHA I win!" Lily shouted, the blanket surrounded her like a pool of water.

James shook his head. "That's _so_ not fair! You cheated!" he said petulantly.

"Nah-ah!" Lily responded, just as childish. "I win, fair and square!" James harrumphed and then launched himself at her, ticking her.

"Tell me you cheated!" he ordered, his fingers poking into her sides. Lily squealed and tried to get away from him, so he threw his legs over her torso and pinned her to the ground.

"Never!" she gasped, wiggling underneath him. She was twitching as James mercilessly tickled her. Her hair had come out of its ponytail and was nearly as messy as James' hair.

"Do it and I'll stop tickling you!" he said, going up under her arms. She twitched violently and tried to tickle him back. "Jokes on you, I'm not ticklish. Now, say it!"

She had tears streaming from her eyes. "James, I'll pee on you," she warned, but the threat was lost as she was laughing and came out as small gasps.

He tickled the underside of her foot and as a reflex; she kicked him in the ribs, her legs jerking everywhere. He stopped tickling her and held his side. "Ouch!"

She took a deep breath and massaged her sides. "I would say sorry, but I'm not." She quickly rolled out from underneath him.

He laughed and said, "Another round?"

Lily looked horrified. "No! I don't like being tickled!" She started to brush her hair with her fingers, trying to get rid of the knots.

"No, you muppet," he said affectionately, "Gobstones! Another round of Gobstones?" She grinned and agreed, crawling back to her original spot.

"Ready to get beaten, Potter?" she said cheekily, gathering the marbles up.

"Never, Evans," he replied, making the first move.


	4. Chapter 4

"Lily Evans," the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor read from his parchment. Lily looked up in surprise and he asked, "Do you have the homework done?"

She looked at him blankly. "There was homework?" She realised too late that she said the wrong thing as his expression darkened as the rest of the class sniggered. She blushed.

"Yes there was homework," he thundered, slamming his hands on his desk. "Why did you not do it?"

She said fearfully, "I didn't remember, I'm really sorry, Professor! I'll hand it in tonight! I'm sorry." She tugged on the ends of her hair, looking up at him sorrowfully. She really did forget as she'd been focusing on Potions.

He shook his head. "Detention tonight. Do the homework at a different time. I expect it to be handed in on Monday."

Lily's eyes filled with tears. She'd never gotten detention before. Mary whispered, "It's okay. He's just being a grump." She put a hand around her shoulders as Professor Iratus collected everyone else's work.

"James Potter," he said. James looked up and handed in a piece of parchment looking far too pleased with himself.

"Here you go, Sir," he said brightly. He started to make his way back to his seat next to his friends when the professor coughed loudly.

"Potter," he said gruffly, "what is this?" He showed a picture of two people duelling with red sparks and captions surrounding it.

"That, Professor Iratus," James said, sounding extremely smug, "is my homework. I learn better visually, y'know?"

The beefy neck of the professor started to turn red. Lily giggled in spite of herself and James looked at him expectantly. "This is not what I asked for," he grunted.

"Ah," James said, grinning. "You actually never specified what type of homework you wanted. If you look at my parchment you'll see that I have all the correct information."

The professor's eye twitched. He slammed the parchment on the table and said, "Detention Potter. You didn't do as I asked." Lily and James both let out noises of indignation. Lily did not want to spend time with James and James had had a detention the previous night. "Quiet," he barked. "Stay back after class and I'll give you the details of the detention."

James walked back to his seat, his head hanging slightly. Lily was even more upset. "The last thing in the world is to have a detention with _him_," she complained to Mary.

Mary rolled her eyes. Lily was rather dramatic. "He'll probably put you guys in a separate room anyway," Mary tried to reassure her friend. "I wouldn't worry about it."

Lily nodded and then returned her attention to the professor. He finally collected everyone's homework and started to talk about the theory behind the Tongue-Tying Curse. Lily dutifully wrote notes and at the end of the lesson she waited back with James. She wasn't happy about it but she knew she'd be in more trouble if she left.

"Alright," Iratus said gruffly, "you'll be in the Trophy Room. The new caretaker, whatshisname," he muttered, scratching at his bald head.

"Mr Filch," Lily supplied helpfully. James resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"That's it. Mr Filch wants the trophies clean. He'll supply you with the products and absolutely no magic. Don't bring your wands," he ordered, coughing. Lily nodded and he said, "Clear on tonight?"

"Crystal," James said a little bitterly. The professor dismissed them and they walked out, not talking. "Well, I'll see you tonight, Evans," James said once they reached the common room.

She huffed and walked up to the girls dorm, wanting to have a small nap before dinner.

* * *

"Lily!" a voice called out. She turned around and saw Severus rushing towards her, his cloak billowing out behind him.

"Sev!" she said, grateful for any excuse to put off going to detention.

"Hey," he said, "where are you going?" he asked reproachfully. He stepped out of the way as people pushed past him.

"I've detention. I forgot to do my Defence homework," she explained with a grimace.

Severus looked down at his feet. "Oh. I thought we were going to study for Charms?" he said in a small voice.

Lily clapped a hand to her mouth. "Oh goodness! I completely forgot, I'm so sorry! We'll have to do it another day, I'm sorry, Sev!" she said, looking apologetic. "Trust me, I'd _much_ rather study for Charms than be stuck in detention with Potter. But I've got to go now, I'll see you around?"

At the mention of James, Severus' face darkened. He nodded, a little sourly, and bade her goodnight. She made her way to the Trophy Room, scowling at the prospect of spending all night with Potter.

"You're nearly late," a voice said from behind her. She jumped and saw James leaning against the doorway with a smug smirk. "Where were you?"

"None of your business," she shot at him. He rolled his eyes but before he could say anything, the new caretaker arrived with two buckets and two sponges.

He told them that he would check on them every hour until all the trophies in the room were cleaned. Lily and James both stared at him incredulously but he left before they could argue about it, cackling.

"Git," James muttered, rolling his sleeves up. Lily privately agreed. "So should I do this half and you do that half?" he asked.

Lily nodded. "Sure. I'll just go over there then." She blushed and he looked at her oddly but scurried away before he could comment on it. She could feel his stare on the back of her neck so she rolled her own sleeves up before plunging the sponge in the soapy water.

The two worked in silence for a long time, not even speaking when Filch checked on them. After a while, James got sick of the silence. "So, Evans. What are you doing for Christmas?" he asked conversationally.

Lily resisted the urge to make a biting remark. It wouldn't be good to be rude to a person that would be stuck in the same room as her for a long time. "Going home, most likely. What about you?" she said, scrubbing the finger marks off of a Quidditch trophy.

James shrugged. "Dunno yet, Mum and Dad will probably want me to stay here. They're heavily involved with fighting against Voldemort and—" Lily nearly dropped the trophy she was holding and let out a squeak. James turned around and asked, "Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah, sorry. You just startled me with using You-Know-Who's name," she explained, putting the trophy back on the shelf delicately.

"Ah," James said in understanding. "Yeah, my parents told me that I shouldn't be scared of a name. It's 'just a bunch of letters thrown together,'" he imitated his mother with a high pitched voice. Lily giggled. He grinned at her and returned to scrubbing a trophy won for the Gobstones tournament in 1763.

"So what were you saying before?" Lily prompted as she realised James wasn't going to say anything.

"Oh, I forgot I was saying something!" he said, laughing. He shook his head, thinking about what he had been saying previously. "Um, I was just going to say that they're involved with fighting against him and to keep me protected they like me staying at school as much as I can." He didn't look too alarmed by this.

"Doesn't that scare you?" she asked. He looked at her in confusion so she clarified, "Doesn't it scare you that he's becoming a lot stronger? That you're in possible danger?" At twelve years old, Lily thought he was awfully brave.

He shrugged, not looking concerned by it. He dipped the sponge back in the water and said, "Sometimes I get scared, but I remember that my parents have been fighting him for a long time. They're one of the best out there. And I've kind of grown up with it, by now. Being scared wouldn't do any good."

Lily was surprised. The boy was well beyond his years. "Wow," she commented. "That's…"

"Not what you expected?" he said with a twinkle in his eye. "I swear I'm not a total immature prat."

Lily laughed. "I see that now." She really did. He just smiled and returned to cleaning the last of the trophies when a few minutes later he finally completed the arduous task.

"Finally!" he said, dropping his sponge in the bucket with a splash. He cracked his knuckles and said happily, "It's all over!" He wiped his hands on his robes and rolled his sleeves down, turning his wrists around.

"Lucky," Lily said enviously. "I still have to do this shelf." She gestured to the shelf on her right. She grimaced at the thought of staying here for any longer.

"Do you want some help?" James offered. "Filch won't let us leave until we've both finished. He's an idiot." James scowled, thinking of the odd caretaker. He'd had a few too many detentions with him already.

"Is that okay?" Lily asked nervously. "I feel bad because then you've done more than me."

James shrugged and rolled his sleeves up again. "Yeah, it isn't that bad. And don't worry about it; I think I had the smaller half anyway."

Lily knew he was lying but she appreciated it. She gave him a smile and returned to wiping down the gold surface. James stood next to her and grabbed one of the trophies from the shelf.

The pair worked in silence until James asked, "How come you forgot to do your homework? That's never happened before."

Lily blushed. "I've just been focusing on Potions with—" she broke off, not sure whether to mention Severus. James and him never got along. "—with my friends," she finished lamely.

If James noticed her little stumble, he didn't comment on it. "What about you?" she asked tentatively.

He laughed. "I did my homework, Evans. Apparently it wasn't up to his standards," he said, grinning.

Lily blushed. "Oh yeah, I forgot. So why did you do that?" she asked curiously. "You must've known he'd get mad."

James nodded. "Oh I did. But I only remembered to do it when we were in Herbology. So I obviously didn't have time to write a whole essay so I thought I'd just draw a picture with minimal explanations hoping that he'd give me extra points for creativity."

Lily laughed loudly. "That might work with someone like Dumbledore but not Iratus. Oh look, we've finished!"

"We have," James noticed. Lily looked at him, hoping he'd know what to do next. "No, I don't know what to do next," he said, as if reading her mind.

"Oh, I was hoping you would. Y'know, because you've had a lot of detentions," she said bluntly.

James laughed loudly as he was rolling down his sleeves. "Usually I get lines. The teacher usually watches me closely so they just dismiss me when I'm finished."

Lily nodded and then sat down in the middle of the floor. James looked at her oddly so she said, "Well, we may as well wait here. It's a better alternative than getting in detention again for leaving before we were dismissed."

James agreed and sat down next to her. He tapped his leg in an odd beat and asked, "So… what do you want to do?" Lily shrugged but then he clapped a hand to his pocket. "I have Exploding Snap! Wanna play?"

Lily nodded and scooted closer to him. "Sure! Do you wanna start?"

James nodded and they started to play. It seemed to be a very intense game as James and Lily ended up yelling at each other.

"I WON!" she shrieked. "Admit it!"

"Never! You didn't win, you cheated!" he retaliated.

"How do you cheat in _Exploding Snap_?!" She threw her hands up in the air exasperatedly.

James grinned. "That's exactly what I want to know."

Lily huffed in annoyance. She put her cards down and folded her arms. "You're such a sore loser!"

James laughed and said, "Just say that you cheated and then everything will be fine." He ran a hand through his hair.

Lily twirled her hair around her index finger. She thought about the request James had made. "Hmm…" She leaned forward and nearly touched her nose with his. He leaned back, looking slightly uncomfortable and she smirked.

"No!" she shouted, causing him to jump and his glasses to nearly fall off. She laughed and returned back to her position. James was bright red and fixed himself up. "Want another round?" Lily asked, collecting the cards up.

"Sure, why not?" he said, looking distinctly ruffled. Lily laughed to herself. James was surprisingly a great person. Maybe they had just gotten off the wrong foot.

James grinned and dealt the cards again, his cheeks still a bit red. Lily stayed quiet and then said curiously, "Filch hasn't checked up on us lately."

James looked up. "Yeah, you're right. We have been shouting, so he's obviously not near us," he said thoughtfully. "Should we see if we're meant to leave or have another round?" he asked.

Lily grinned. "Another round. I want to beat you again."

"Never going to happen, Evans," he said cheerfully. "Cheaters never win."

"That's why I won before, because I'm not a cheater," she said, sticking her tongue at him.

He flicked a card at her and watched it explode. She squealed and jumped back. He laughed and gathered the cards up again. They were quite silent at first, but slowly they started to raise their voices at each other.

"You're such a whiner, Potter!" Lily said, laughing at his singed eyebrows.

"I am not!" he protested, grinning. He self-consciously patted his eyebrows and Lily had tears forming in her eyes from his shame and embarrassment. She loved beating him in things; it always gave her a sense of satisfaction.

"Anyway," she said, "should we go see if Filch is outside?" She pulled herself up and brushed down her robes. James nodded and also stood up. "Can you check?" she asked him, not wanting to see the strange caretaker.

James looked unwilling but at Lily's pleading look, he said resignedly, "Fine." He poked his head out the door warily and then gestured for Lily to come closer. She stood next to him nervously and he whispered, "He's asleep."

Lily stuck her head out of the door and saw the caretaker sleeping in a chair with his strange cat in his lap. The cat was also asleep. "Should we leave then?" she whispered to James.

He nodded. "Come on, follow me." He grabbed her hand and led her outside, being very careful not to wake Filch or his cat.

Together they tiptoed out the Trophy Room and past Filch but they were just about to get away from him when the cat opened its yellow eyes.

The two froze in horror. She blinked at the pair of second years and growled.

"No, shh!" Lily hissed. "Please be quiet, kitty!"

The cat growled again as James took another step. He looked at Filch in case he decided to wake up but he was still fast asleep.

"Lily, let's just go!" he whispered, "The cat can't do anything!"

Lily looked warily at the cat but nodded, wanting to get away from it and Filch. However, as soon as they took a few more steps, The cat let out a loud noise and woke the caretaker up.

"RUN!" James screamed as soon as Filch jolted awake.

Lily ran as fast as she could and was still holding James' hand. He was nearly dragging her as she couldn't keep up with his long legs. Her chest felt like it was on fire and they could hear the footsteps of Filch behind them.

"Students out of bed!" he was croaking. "Students out of bed!"

"Come on, Lily!" James urged her.

"I'm—sorry," she wheezed. He just tugged on her hand as they ran up the stairs until they were stopped by Peeves.

"What's this?" the Poltergeist said, bobbing in front of them. "Naughty second years out of bed?"

"Peeves," James pleaded. "Please don't let Filch find us. We just got out of detention."

Peeves cackled and said, "Naughty Potter and Evans sneaking around the castle at night! K—I—S—S—I—N—G!"

Lily felt her whole face bloom red and James' cheeks turned an ugly red. "Peeves!" he said angrily. Peeves kept cackling and singing rude songs about the two of them. James just grabbed Lily's hand again and tried to dodge Peeves so they could return to their common room.

He started to throw chalk at the pair and cackled as they ran away screaming. They tried to throw the chalk back so he started screaming, "STUDENTS OUT OF BED! STUDENTS OUT OF BED!"

James shoved Lily in a closet and shut the door as they heard Filch catch up with Peeves.

"Peeves where did they go?" he asked urgently. Lily tried to quieten her pants and James had his ear pressed up against the door, listening intently.

"Where did who go?" Peeves asked innocently. Lily let out a relaxed breath and James shushed her.

Filch snapped, "This is no time to be smart, Peeves! Where did they go?!" Peeves cackled and they then heard Filch scream, "No, don't throw chalk at me! Stop it instantly! Tell me where they went! PEEVES!" There was a loud smash as it sounded like a suit of armour was broken.

The sound of chalk being thrown and Filch's screaming eventually disappeared but the two stayed in the closet for a little bit longer in case someone was still out there.

James eventually opened the door slightly but then closed it quickly shut. Lily was about to ask why but he hushed her quickly and put his ear to the door again. Lily joined him this time and he shuffled over so she had some space.

"…Headmaster. He is rude and doesn't respect the staff!" they heard Filch saying.

Dumbledore gave a small chuckle. "On the contrary, Argus, I feel that Peeves brings this castle lively entertainment."

"But Headmaster! He broke this suit of armour!" Filch protested. "He needs to be kicked out!"

"No matter, I can repair this. You may leave now," Dumbledore replied, his tone implying that Filch shouldn't argue. They could hear Filch muttering curses under his breath and they heard the suit of armour being fixed.

The door opened and the two saw Dumbledore staring down at them with a small smile. "Would you like to come out now? Broom closets are not the most comfortable of places," he said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"P—Professor," Lily stumbled. "We weren't trying to—"

The Headmaster held a hand up. "You were just trying to avoid another detention, I understand." James and Lily looked at each other incredulously and Dumbledore chuckled. "Detention is not a fun activity."

"You're telling me," James said, grinning at the Headmaster, much more relaxed that now he knew they weren't going to get in trouble.

Dumbledore gave them a small smile and said, "You will not be receiving another detention, do not worry. Now, off to bed! The Quidditch match is very early tomorrow; you wouldn't want to miss it."

The two nodded and bade the Headmaster goodnight. Lily whispered to James, "Dumbledore is quite odd, don't you think?"

James turned around and saw the old Professor watching them with a twinkle in his eye. He said, "If you are any later, the Fat Lady will not be happy with you waking her up."

They both laughed and walked a bit more quickly to the common room. They reached the Fat Lady's portrait who was just about to fall asleep.

"If you were any later I would have been extremely annoyed with you two!" she scolded but allowed them in as they said the password.

"Dumbledore is a bit mad," James said as they walked in, "but he's also bloody brilliant."


	5. Chapter 5

"Get real! You did _not_ levitate Regulus when he was one! You would have only been two! Magic doesn't reveal itself 'till seven!" James argued, bouncing down the stairs, just having finished dinner.

Sirius huffed. "Believe what you want to believe. I so levitated Regulus when he was one. I remember because it was my first time I got in trouble."

"Started at an early age, eh Padfoot?" Peter asked teasingly. Remus snorted.

Sirius winked at Peter. "You know it." James rolled his eyes at his best mate so Sirius playfully pushed him. James stumbled and his foot got caught in the trick staircase. He then thundered down the stairs landing on someone with a loud bang.

Sirius swore and ran to help his friend and the poor person stuck beneath him. James rolled off and groaned, and the girl under him was crying. Remus ran to her side and realised it was Lily. Peter plucked James' broken glasses off the ground and repaired them for his friend. He handed them back to James, who was still groaning.

"Prongs, are you okay?!" Sirius asked, slapping his best mate's cheek. Peter smacked his hand away and James let out a breath.

"Winded. Who'd I land on?" he gasped out.

Remus answered, "Lily. We have to get you two to the Hospital Wing. I think she's broken her leg."

"No," she said, "it's alright. I'm just overreacting." Her appearance suggested otherwise. Her cheeks were splotchy and James apologised, but as he was still in pain himself, it didn't sound very authentic. A small crowd had formed around the five but Peter shooed them away.

"Come on, Lily." Remus helped her up but she couldn't put any weight on her left leg. She gripped onto him tightly and although she was protesting weakly, he swung her up in his arms, holding her bridal style. "I'm taking you to the Hospital Wing. James, you better come too," he said to her. She hiccupped and nodded, wincing.

James groaned and slowly sat up, massaging his ribs. "I'm really sorry, Evans."

She waved him off, but she still had a pained grimace and her eyes were still rather red. "I need my books," she said, looking over Remus' shoulder to see her scattered bag.

"I'll get them, you guys go to the Hospital Wing, I'll meet you there," Peter offered. She thanked him and Remus took her down to see the matron. Sirius helped James up and assisted him in following Remus and Lily.

By the time the pair had gotten to the Hospital Wing, Remus had already placed Lily in a bed and the matron was fussing over her. James sat on the bed next to her, looking extremely apologetic. "I'm so sorry," he said.

Lily told him not to worry as Madam Pomfrey started to fuss over him. He didn't like being poked and prodded so he kept fidgeting and jerking away from her.

"Stop fidgeting, Potter!" she scolded. "Do you want to feel better?"

He sat still but still winced when she poked him a bit too hard. Eventually she left to get him a potion. "Here, drink this. It'll clear everything right up. It's nothing serious; Miss Evans here broke your fall."

James grimaced. "Sorry," he apologised for the umpteenth time. Again, Lily waved him off as he drunk the potion, making a face. "Ugh."

Madam Pomfrey then checked him again and said, "You're free to go now, Potter. And your friends."

At her words, Lily looked pleadingly at the matron. "Do you mind if they stay? I don't want to be alone."

James felt something tug at his navel as he and Sirius exchanged surprised glances. They then turned to Madam Pomfrey who allowed them to stay, albeit reluctantly.

"Lily, I'm so sor—" James started as the matron went to get another potion for Lily.

"Sorry, I know. No, it's okay. You tripped," she said, fiddling with the edge of the blanket nervously. She sniffled and wiped her nose self-consciously.

Sirius shuffled his feet and said, "Well, I pushed him. I didn't mean to hit you or anything, I swear!" Lily stared at him incredulously and he said, "I'm sorry."

"_Boys_," she whispered exasperatedly to herself. She said to Sirius, "It's okay; you never meant to do it."

Peter then walked in with Mary, Dorcas and Marlene trailing behind him. Lily smiled at seeing her friends and thanked Peter for retrieving her book bag. He grinned at her and sat down next to Remus.

Mary said, "What happened?! We saw Peter gathering your things up and he said James fell on you?!"

Lily heard James mutter another apology and she laughed. "Yeah, he did, but it was an accident. I'm sure I'm fine."

Marlene opened her mouth to say something but Madam Pomfrey walked out. "What are you all doing here?" she asked, shooing them to the side so she could give Lily the potions to drink. Lily gulped them down, making faces the whole time.

Dorcas said stubbornly, "She's hurt and she's our friend! We just want to make sure she's okay!"

Madam Pomfrey frowned but allowed them to stay. She however, made the boys turn around as she checked Lily's leg and ribs.

"Well, Miss Evans you might have a concussion so you're going to have to stay the night. I just want to make sure you're okay," she said finally.

Lily said, "No, please don't make me stay!" She heard James apologise _again_ but didn't take any notice of it. The matron apologised but still forced everyone to leave so Lily could get her rest. Lily huffed but her friends were forced to leave. They waved at her and left, leaving her alone.

Lily was annoyed, her leg was fine and she was sure she didn't have a concussion. She pulled out a book from her bag and started to read quietly. The matron frequently checked up on her and decided she didn't have a concussion, but she was to stay in the Hospital Wing for her leg. It was still not fully healed but she needed to rest it for the night.

Lily gratefully closed her eyes and got some well-needed rest, but when it was very dark, she heard a loud crash. She opened her eyes and looked around her, but didn't see anyone. Madam Pomfrey rushed outside and asked Lily a few questions but Lily was clueless about the mysterious noise. She quickly checked her leg again before going back into her office.

Lily stared around warily, but decided that it wasn't a big deal. She was about to close her eyes when James—in his pyjamas—appeared out of nowhere next to her bed. She didn't scream but clapped a hand to her mouth. He looked alarmed and whispered, "It's only me!"

Her heart was beating erratically. "What are you doing?" she hissed. "And how were you invisible?"

He shifted nervously, kicking the floor with the toe of his shoes. "I have an Invisibility Cloak. It was my dad's when he was young."

Lily let out a breath. "Oh. That explains all your pranks then." He grinned and something lurched inside her stomach. She was thankful that it was dark because then he wouldn't see her cheeks reddening. "And how come you're here?" she asked.

He fidgeted again. "Well, I feel really bad. And I wanted to come down to keep you company."

She laughed. "It's okay. You don't need to keep apologising." She was about to say more but James heard Madam Pomfrey's door opening so he quickly threw the Cloak around himself. "What are you—" Lily started but broke off when she saw the matron. "Oh, hello," she said nervously.

Madam Pomfrey looked at her suspiciously. "I heard voices, there's no one in here, is there?" She looked around the Wing and ducked her head to see under the beds.

Lily shook her head. "No, of course not!" she said vehemently.

She heard James breathe, "Act more natural."

Lily blushed and said, "Well, sometimes I sleep talk. And answer myself. Dorcas is always getting annoyed at me. It doesn't happen often, though."

Madam Pomfrey stared at her a bit more but then bade her goodnight and walked back into her office. James threw the Cloak off himself as Lily relaxed, her shoulders slumping. "By God Evans, you are the worst actor I've ever seen."

She scowled. "Well, I doubt that you could—actually, you probably could do better. Anyway, I've a spell that means she won't hear us. What is it? Muffulto? Muffolsa? Mufflia—_Muffliato_!" She pointed her wand at the door and spoke loudly, "HELLO?"

The matron did not come bustling out so she smiled and placed her wand on the bedside table. "There," she said, at normal volume this time.

James looked impressed. "Nice one. Where'd you learn that nifty spell?"

Lily faltered. "Erm, read it in a book somewhere," she lied hurriedly. She doubted that he would take to the idea that Snape created his own spells. "And what's best is that we can hear her but she can't hear us." James looked amazed. "Did you want to sit down?" Lily asked, shuffling over to give him space on the bed.

He looked amused. "You want me in the same bed as you?" he asked, grinning cheekily.

She rolled her eyes. "It doesn't matter, it doesn't mean anything," she said. Although it did mean something to the both of them. She was just in denial.

James shrugged and kicked off his shoes, sitting on top of the covers next to her. She tutted. "No, get under the covers. You're nice and warm."

He looked at her incredulously. "Lily, are you okay?"

She giggled and said, "Probably not. But get in here; I'm absolutely freezing over here. I want to spoon you."

He laughed and said, "Now _that's_ an offer I can't refuse." Lily grinned at him and he wiggled under the covers. "I feel as if we've overstepped the boundaries of friends," James said as Lily leant onto him, wrapping her arms around him.

"Oh, shush," she said, resting her head on his chest, "you're so warm and comfy." He laughed and wrapped his arms around her and she smiled, squeezing him a bit tighter. She knew this was stepping boundaries but she found that she _wanted_ to step over those boundaries.

Not that she'd ever admit it out loud.

James wrapped his arms around her and said, "Are you sure this is okay?"

Lily nodded and snuggled closer towards him. "You have no idea how warm you are. It's bloody freezing and stop worrying if I'm okay. I'm fine, my leg is fine and I'm not a delicate princess."

James laughed and said, "Well with my amazing muscles, I feel like everything is rather fragile."

Lily snorted. "You think too highly of yourself, Potter," she quipped. James grinned and Lily smiled up at him, tracing patterns on his arm with her fingernail. The two were silent for a long time before Lily finally got the courage to speak up.

"James?" she asked meekly.

"Hmm?" He looked down at her and brushed her hair away from her face. It was in her eye and she'd been trying to blink it out.

"Thanks," she said, smiling at him. "Um, can I ask you something personal?"

He looked down at her seriously. "Depends how personal. What d'you want to ask?" His hand tightened on her arm, but not enough to hurt her.

She swallowed nervously and flicked her hair away from her face again. Once again, James pushed it back behind her ear. She took a few deep breaths. "Are you scared about the war?" she said hurriedly, panting slightly.

A thoughtful expression clouded James' face. She said hastily, "If you don't want to answer it, then that's fine—"

"No, I'm just thinking what to say," James said, cutting her off. She played with the long sleeve pyjama shirt and waited as patiently as she could. He finally said, "Yeah, I am. I'm terrified. But I'm also—in a kind of masochistic way—_excited_ for it. I'm excited to be a part of something, and to stop being a stupid kid."

Lily laughed, still tracing patterns on his arm. "You're not a stupid kid," she said, so thankful that it was dark and he wouldn't be able to see her blushing.

"I was," James said. "Remember first year?"

Again, Lily laughed. "Yeah, I guess. But to be fair, I was a bit snobby."

"A bit?" he teased. "The Queen of England isn't as snobby as you were!"

Lily grinned and mumbled, "Shut up." He laughed loudly and she said, "I do feel a bit bad for being mean to you, though."

He chuckled and said, "Don't worry about it. I feel bad for getting your leg broken."

Lily rolled her eyes and continued to trace patterns on his arms. He watched her silently and she said quietly, "James, I'm worried."

"About the war?" he asked shrewdly. With the hand that Lily wasn't tracing patterns on, he pushed his glasses back up his nose.

She nodded. "Yeah and…" she broke off, not knowing what to say next. James waited patiently for her and she said softly, "I'm worried about Snape."

"Snape?" he asked loudly. She nodded. He asked bewilderedly, "Why are you worried about him? I'm pretty sure he can handle himself fine." He didn't say it nastily, but as a fact. Lily knew he was right but that didn't stop her from being worried.

She sat up and looked at him seriously. "I know we aren't friends anymore, but he was my best friend for a long time. He introduced me to magic and I can never forget that. He taught me everything about this world. And… you know how he's, erm, interested in _dark_ things?"

James nodded and she took a deep breath. "Well, with me, I could always tell him when he and his friends were being wrong. His friends never listened to me, but if I told him privately he would bring it up to his mates and they would slow down a bit." James gestured for her to continue and she said, "The thing is, I'm worried because I'm _not_ there to tell him what to do—oh gosh, that makes me sound so bossy—"

"Lily, trust me. It's good that you were bossing him around. Because if you weren't I'm pretty sure a lot of people would have gotten hurt, and maybe you've taught him a bit about conscience," James said smoothly, cutting her off. "Sorry, continue."

She shook her head. "No, that's alright. But yeah… Since I'm not there, I'm scared a lot more people will start to get hurt. And I'm scared, for myself," she said in a tiny voice.

James put an arm around her shoulder. "Why are you scared?" he asked gently.

She tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "I'm scare that he and his friends will do something to me. Every time I see them, I want to jump behind a suit of armour or a closet, in case they try to do something. They hate people like me, it isn't a secret and—" Her voice had started to rise, becoming borderline hysterical.

"Lily, look at me," James ordered, directing her face back to his. He looked right in her eyes and said seriously, "I'm not going to let anything happen to you. I'm happy to walk you to classes and back. I'm make sure none of them try _anything_ on you. Nothing's going to happen as long as I'm alive and kicking, you hear me?"

She gnawed on her lip and nodded. He said, "And what do a bunch of sixteen year olds know? They're just stupid kids who's ability only extends to _Stupefy_." He laughed, trying to make her lighten up.

It didn't work. Lily shook her head. "No, James. Sev—Snape _creates_ spells. You know _Levicorpus_?" she asked, knowing the answer. James had used it on Severus only a few months prior.

James' mouth dropped. "He _invented_ that spell?!" he asked, looking very disgruntled at the thought.

She nodded grimly. "Yeah. And he also made up _Muffliato_. The one I just used a few moments ago. And he also made up one where it causes the persons toenails to grow and something where the person's tongue gets glued to the roof of their mouth."

James, although looking thoroughly unhappy with this fact, said optimistically, "At least they aren't dangerous."

She shook her head and whispered, "No. He's made this _terrible_ one, _Sectumsempra_. It causes the person to bleed. He actually used it on you, after the O. . How did you get that mended by the way?" she asked, taking a look at his cheek where the gash was. There was no evidence of scarring.

He shrugged. "Remus fixed it up," he said nonchalantly. "He's pretty good with those types of spells."

Lily shook her head. "No, this isn't a normal spell. It's really hard to fix up, I think only he knows the counter spell," she said, turning his chin to either side to see if there was even a little bit of scarring.

James coughed nervously. "Well, Remus doesn't fix scratches and things like that normally. He's got some weird spell that he uses."

Lily let go of his chin and stared at him confusedly. "What do you mean?"

James shifted and said, "It's a secret. And it isn't mine to tell, well part of it is, but the big part isn't." He scratched at the back of his neck.

"Can you tell me your secret?" she asked curiously. She was leaning towards him and her eyes were bright, waiting for him to say something.

He bit the inside of his lip nervously. "Well, the thing is, I'm an Animagus."

Whatever Lily was expecting, it wasn't that. She jerked away and said loudly, "What?"

James repeated, "I'm an Animagus. A stag to be precise." He looked at her timidly and fiddled with the corner of his sleeve.

It was silent as Lily processed this. "For how long?" she asked eventually.

He sighed a breath of relief. "Since last year. But I'm not registered," he added before Lily could ask him.

James kept quiet as Lily turned the idea over in her head. She scrunched up her nose in thought, and suddenly she clapped a hand to her mouth. "Are you all Animagis? Is that where your nicknames come from? I understand why you're 'Prongs' now!" she said in a rush, looking rather proud of herself.

James fidgeted again. "Sort of," he said slowly. He ruffled his hair up nervously. "Look, what I'm about to tell you _has_ to stay between the two of us. No one can know. And the boys can't know I told you, okay?" She nodded, looking both concerned and excited to find out the infamous Marauder's secrets.

James took a deep breath. "You were right about Sirius, Peter and me being Animagis. I'm a stag like I said before; Sirius is a dog, hence 'Padfoot'; and Peter is a rat, which is where 'Wormtail' comes from.

"But Remus isn't. It's because he's a werewolf, Lily. Where 'Moony' comes from. And we became Animagi's so he wouldn't be so alone every month," James said slowly. "You can't tell _anyone_, not even Dumbledore knows about this. I mean, he knows about Remus being a werewolf but not about the rest of us."

Lily chewed on her lip as she thought of the whole thing over. James waited for her to say something and then she finally breathed, "Wow."

James' lips twitched into something of a smirk. He so desperately wanted to say something rude but he knew she would get mad so he kept silent and let her think it over.

She twirled a bit of her hair around her index finger and said, "You guys may be the best friends anyone could ever have. That's such an amazing thing to do!"

James shrugged abashedly. "It really isn't that big of a deal," he said humbly.

"Not that big of a deal?" Lily echoed. "James, that's something amazing. It's no wonder you're fantastic at Transfiguration and—oh! Last year, you said you knew about Animagi the most! That's why!" she said, clapping a hand to her mouth. "That's some _serious_ magic!"

James grinned. "Well, yeah. It took Peter the longest but the first time we all went out there, it was so much fun." He ruffled his hair a bit self-consciously, making it stick up.

Lily grinned at him and was overcome by the urge to pat his hair down. She squashed it down and clasped her hands together. She said, "Thank you for coming down here and keeping me company."

James said, "That's okay. I'm sorry I put you in here the first place." He grinned at her.

Lily rolled her eyes. "You don't need to apologise anymore. You've made it up to me, it's okay. And it wasn't even on purpose!" she said, laughing.

"Did you want me to leave now?" he asked after they were quiet for a small moment.

Lily shook her head. "No! I'm not actually that tired anymore, are you?"

He shook his head as well. "No, I'm not actually. I was just wondering if you wanted me to leave, I have been here for three hours."

"What? Already?" Lily asked confusedly. James nodded and looked at a battered watch on his wrist.

"Man, I need a new watch. But yeah, I came here at about eleven. It's two in the morning now," he said, flicking the face of the watch.

Lily looked at the old watch but found it was one of those strange wizard ones. She would never understand how to read them.

"Anyway, what should we do?" she asked.

James shrugged. "I have Exploding Snap?" Lily grinned and he said, "I still need to get my revenge on you from second year."

Lily laughed and said, "I did not cheat. But I'll play you, and beat your sorry arse."

James chuckled and handed her a pile of cards. "Not a chance, Evans."


	6. Chapter 6

"Guess who's here?" a loud voice said at the door. James grinned at his wife and son as he went to answer the door.

He swung the door open and Sirius was leaning against the front door with a grin on his face. "And by the way, the first time we met I called you a scrawny-looking kid who would be my best mate," he said before James had the chance to ask his question for Sirius.

James laughed. "You know it." The two hugged for a short time and James invited his best friend inside the house. Lily was sitting at the dining table feeding Harry mashed banana—who by the looks of it—had dribbled it all over himself.

"Hey, Sirius," she said cheerfully, wiping Harry's mouth with a towel. "How was the mission?"

Sirius made a face. "Boring. How have you and my godson been?" Even though Harry was nearly seven months old, Sirius still couldn't stop boasting that he had a godson.

But then again, James couldn't stop boasting he had a son.

They were far too similar for Lily's liking.

"We've been good," Lily said. Harry made a loud noise and she said, "When you've finished your food you can drool all over Padfoot. Be patient." She fed him another spoon and he chewed with wide eyes, waiting for the next mouthful.

James laughed and said, "Want a drink?" Sirius accepted and sat opposite Lily and next to Harry as James ducked into the kitchen.

Harry laughed and clapped as Sirius pulled silly faces. Lily was fighting a losing battle as Harry's attention was focused solely on Sirius. She sighed, "Sirius, can you let me feed him first? Then you can do whatever face you want to do."

James came back and set a cup of coffee in front of Sirius who gratefully started to drink it. "Why don't we let Harry choose?" he asked, sliding into a spot next to Lily. He pulled a face much like Sirius'.

Lily rolled her eyes. "If we're going to do that, I may as well pack up the food then. He's going to pick you two, and you know it."

Sirius shot James a cheeky grin. "Ah, you know us so well. But we'll let him choose anyway, just to prove it." He set down his coffee away from Harry's reach and said, "Harry? Do you want to eat or watch me and your dad pull faces?"

Harry put his hands to his mouth, his signature move to tell Lily that he was hungry. He laughed at Sirius and James' betrayed expressions. Lily grinned and said, "That's my boy. Now come on, only a few more bites!" she encouraged, scraping a bit of the food into the spoon.

Harry opened his mouth obediently and James and Sirius walked away so they wouldn't distract Harry. James said, "So what was the mission like?"

Sirius made a face and sat down on the couch. "It sucked. Nothing happened. We think it was a false lead."

James nodded and sat down opposite him, kicking the cat off of his spot. "I kinda miss missions," he said. "It's a hell of a lot more fun than bloody _Ministry work_. I don't understand how people like that."

Sirius snorted. "I'd probably go mad if I was in your position."

James shrugged. "It isn't too bad. If we didn't have Harry, I'd probably still be out there, annoying the Death Eaters. But we do, and I'm going to do anything to keep him as safe as possible. At least this removes me from the firing line."

Sirius nodded. "No, I completely understand. It's sometimes sad though, when I'm out there and I don't have you next to me insulting the Death Eaters. I just do it by myself now. It's not nearly as fun. Especially when Moody threatens to hit you with his leg."

James snorted. He ran a hand through his hair and Lily entered with Harry on her hip. "Here you go, Sirius." Sirius grinned and plucked his godson out of Lily's arms.

"Hey little man! Did you eat everything?" Harry gurgled happily and Sirius bounced him up in the air.

Lily and James both started protesting. "Sirius! He's just eaten—he's going to be sick all over you if you don't watch out!" Lily said worriedly.

Sirius rolled his eyes and held Harry above his head. "Nah, he's fine. Look!" He bounced him again and suddenly, Harry coughed up all the food he'd eaten onto Sirius' face. James laughed loudly and keeled over at Sirius' expression. His face had turned red as Lily took Harry off of Sirius while fighting the urge to laugh. Harry looked extremely pleased with himself.

"I'm going to clean him up," she said. "You can have a shower if you'd like. Your clothes are in your room." Sirius stood up and took the stairs two at a time to "his" room. When James and Lily first moved in, they both knew that Sirius would claim a room for himself and keep a spare change of clothes in there. Before they had Harry, he often slept over.

James stood up and said affectionately, "You're the best son a father could ask for." Lily laughed and James ruffled his son's hair.

Lily grinned at her husband. "I'm going to give him a bath. Can you feed Jasper?" James made a disgruntled noise but Lily had already walked away, talking to Harry, "You're a cheeky little man, aren't you?"

Harry's laugh could be heard from the other side of the house. James grinned as he said to the cat, "Come on. I gotta feed you."

Jasper meowed loudly and James rolled his eyes and picked the infernal cat up. After he had fed the cat and locked it away in the laundry, he saw Sirius at the stove, making something to eat.

"No longer smell like vomit?" James asked, laughing.

Sirius snorted. "I think he did it on purpose." He continued stirring at the pot. "I'm making pasta. Want some?"

James nodded and pulled out a frozen batch of sauce from the freezer, plonking it on the bench top. "Lily _did_warn you though." He pointed his wand at it to thaw it out.

"Yes, I know. But I didn't think he would really _do_ it," he said, turning the stove off and placing the spaghetti in three separate bowls. James pulled out another pot and poured the sauce into it, quickly heating it up with his wand.

By the time they had finished serving out three bowls, Lily came back with Harry wriggling on her hip. She put him down in the high-chair and said, "You guys are too nice. I'm absolutely starving."

She sat down next to Harry and grabbed one of the bowls. Harry clapped his hands together and Lily sighed, cutting up some of her spaghetti. James grabbed a small plastic bowl and gave it to Lily so she could put some of her spaghetti into it. She grinned at him in thanks and James and Sirius sat down, chatting about missions and other things like that.

The three ate and talked, catching Sirius up on what he'd missed when being away. After they'd finished dinner, James graciously cleared the plates away and Lily cleaned Harry up. She wiped his face and waved her wand over his clothes, clearing the excess spaghetti and drool off of him. She would never know how Muggles had children without magic. It would be extremely tiring if she had to change Harry's clothes four or five times a day.

And not to mention the ridiculous amount of laundry she would have to go through.

At eight o'clock, there was a knock at the door. James and Sirius both perked up suspiciously, and Lily picked Harry out of the high-chair and held him close to her body. He reached out and played with a lock of her hair.

She jerked her head at the door and Sirius and James walked towards it with their wands out. James peered through the peep hole and noticed their old Headmaster at his front door. James slowly opened the door, still with his wand out and Sirius was behind him, also with his wand pointing at the old professor.

"What is Albus Dumbledore's favourite flavour of jam?" James asked as soon as he was in full view.

Dumbledore replied promptly, "Raspberry."

James and Sirius both lowered their wands and allowed Dumbledore to enter the household. "What bring you here, sir?" Lily asked, coming forward now that Harry wasn't in any danger.

Dumbledore replied, "I have urgent matters to discuss with you. Shall we sit down?" Lily's heart fluttered and unconsciously, she held Harry a bit tighter. She didn't like the tone of Dumbledore's voice. James also felt a bit uneasy.

Sirius, picking up that he shouldn't be there, said, "I'll get going then. I'll see you guys soon—"

"Actually, Sirius, it may be wise if you were here too," Dumbledore said, looking serious. "It concerns Harry."

Lily gasped and held Harry protectively. Her eyes filled with tears. James went white and Sirius looked angry and scared at the same time. They slowly went to the dining table where they had been sitting a few minutes previously. Lily wouldn't let go of Harry and James threw an arm around them.

Sirius sat on the other side of James and Dumbledore sat opposite the three of them. He said solemnly, "Harry is in danger. Lord Voldemort is looking for him."

Lily bit down on her lip to stop the tears from falling. She wrapped her hands around Harry's pudgy stomach and kissed the top of his messy head. James went the colour of parchment and squeezed on Lily's shoulder. She held Harry closer to her and he tugged on her hair. Sirius croaked, "Why?"

Dumbledore looked at Harry sadly. "There has been a prophecy made. He believes it to be about Harry."

"No," James whispered. "How can this be? He's not even seven months old for crying out loud!" His voice started to get louder and Lily pat the top of his thigh to keep them from worrying Harry. He didn't take any notice of it. His only son, the most important person in his world, had been targeted by Voldemort.

Dumbledore explained, "The prophecy stated that the person of the Dark Lord's downfall will be born as the seventh month dies and Voldemort wants no chance of being defeated."

The three were silent as they processed this. Lily sniffled and James felt his heart breaking. He didn't want this to happen to them, they hadn't done anything wrong.

Sirius cleared his throat. "How do you know it means Harry? Frank and Alice's son is born the day before, aren't they in danger too?"

James felt a sick sense of hope that it wasn't Harry but it was quickly chased away with guilt. He would never wish for anyone to be in this position. Lily wasn't looking at anyone except Harry. She could draw his face with her eyes closed. Her whole world revolved around Harry.

She would do anything to protect him, and she knew that James would too.

"Harry is a halfblood, like Voldemort himself. My confidant has told me of this. We need to put you in protection immediately. Frank and Alice will be put under protection, but you will need to take much stronger precautions. Do you understand?" Dumbledore said seriously, peering over his spectacles.

James nodded and pinched his nose between his forefinger and thumb. Lily squeezed her eyes shut and pressed another kiss on Harry's head. She wished that this wasn't happening. She hoped that she would wake up from this terrible nightmare and the three of them would be perfectly safe, Voldemort wouldn't be targeting them and they could carry on with their lives.

Dumbledore looked solemnly at them. "I hate to be the bearer of this news. Harry is only a boy—"

"He's only a baby!" Lily cried out. "He hasn't done anything wrong! It's not fair!"

"Lily," James said softly. She looked at him with her eyes filled with tears. "Lily, I know it's hard—"

"Hard?!" she said hysterically. She wiped her cheeks and her nose. "We just found out that the darkest wizard of all time is looking for Harry! Can't he take me instead?"

"No! He's not going to take you or Harry," James said fiercely. "You're his mum, he'd be better off—"

Sirius cut his best mate off, "No. James, both you and Lily are the most important people in Harry's life. If anyone was to sacrifice themselves for Harry it should be me. I'm a Pureblood, my whole family is in Slytherin and Harry would be able to live without his godfather. He couldn't live without his parents." His jaw was set.

James opened his mouth to argue but Dumbledore spoke over him. "I'm afraid that would not work. Voldemort only wants Harry. I'm truly sorry."

Lily let out a choked sob. James felt useless. He was a father, he was meant to be able to protect his family. He'd failed Harry and Lily. Sirius whispered, "It's not your fault, don't think like that. Okay?"

James looked blankly at Sirius. His best friend always knew what he was thinking. "How can I not?" he said dully. "Voldemort is on the hunt for Harry. _My son_."

Sirius didn't know what to say and James turned back to Harry. His heart swelled with happiness every time he saw Harry grinning at Lily. Harry was tugging on Lily's hair again and James moved the red strands out of the way. Harry looked at him in annoyance and James felt his eyes well up as he saw Lily's exact eyes staring up at him.

"What do we do?" James asked, not taking his eyes off Harry.

Dumbledore said, "I think it would be wise to obtain a Secret Keeper. It is essential that this person is someone you can trust."

"Sirius will do it," Lily said without a doubt. James agreed, privately thinking how fast Lily had said that.

Dumbledore had an odd expression on his face. Lily was a bit wary of it but Sirius asked, "Really? Me?"

James said, "Of course. You just said before you'd give your life for Harry. You're my best friend, you're Harry's godfather, you were theoretically Lily's maid of honour! There's no one else better."

Sirius cracked half a smile. When they were planning the Potter-Evans wedding, Lily had told people she wasn't going to have a maid of honour because Sirius would be occupied as best man and also "didn't suit the colour yellow".

Dumbledore still looked a bit wary much to Lily and James' surprise. He said, "I will return in a few days. We will perform the charm as soon as possible. I have a few errands to run."

James said a bit harshly, "Why don't we do it now? We're all here."

Dumbledore nodded but said, "I am a busy man, James. You know this. I will return in a few days." His tone left no room for argument.

Lily nodded, shooting her husband a warning glance. She was confused by Dumbledore's behaviour, but he was an odd man. Brilliant, but odd. Dumbledore stood up. "Circumstances are changing," he sighed. "It is of essence that you take great care in the future."

James nodded and also stood up. Lily was still sitting down, trying to entertain Harry without crying. She gave him a watery smile and he grinned toothlessly up at her. She let out half a laugh and James caught himself staring at her.

Sirius pushed his seat back and said, "I'll get going as well. I'll see you soon, I guess…" Lily sent him a quick smile before returning her attention back to Harry.

James led the two men outside. Dumbledore said goodbye and disapparated immediately. Sirius stared at his best friend. "It's going to be okay," he said to reassure James and himself.

James shook his head. It was never going to be okay. Harry was always going to be targeted by Voldemort. All because of a few _bloody words_.

"Hopefully," James said flatly. He felt exhausted. He wanted to run somewhere far away and give Harry and Lily the most protection he could possible give. He knew it wouldn't be wise to do that though.

Sirius gave James a hug. It felt odd, a few hours previously they'd hugged right at this doorstep. It felt like a million years ago. Only a few hours had passed since Harry had vomited on Sirius, but it felt like an eternity. They'd never been _safe_ but they were a lot safer then.

And it was only a few measly hours ago.

James and Sirius broke out of their hug and Sirius clapped James on the shoulder before disapparating. James closed the door and walked back to the dining table where Lily had tears filling her eyes. She whispered, "I don't want to let him go. I don't want anything to happen to him."

James wrapped Lily in a hug, putting Harry between them. "Nothing's going to happen, Lily. You hear me?" he said strongly. He had tears in his own eyes but he blinked them away hurriedly. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you two."

She nodded and looked down at Harry, who was falling asleep on the spot. "I better put him to bed," she said softly. He stood up and followed them to Harry's bedroom. Lily placed him down gently on his mattress and she whispered, "I love you so much, Harry. Nothing and no one will _ever_ hurt you."

She stroked his hair one last time and James came to stand behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Lily, it's going to be okay," he said hoarsely.

Lily nodded and leant back into James' arms, letting him rest his head on her shoulder. "I know, but I'm scared."

James pushed a bit of her hair back and said softly, "I know. I am too. But _nothing_ will happen to Harry. I'm going to make sure of it."

She sniffled and Harry made a noise in his sleep. "Come on," she breathed, "I don't want to wake him up."

She led him outside and closed the door quietly. She could feel her heart breaking but managed to stay quiet until she reached her and James' bedroom. She nearly collapsed and James scooped her up as she sobbed. James didn't know what to do. He felt completely and utterly useless.

He held her tightly and she sobbed against his shirt, gripping the cotton between her fists. James didn't say anything but rested his forehead against hers and kept murmuring assurances. He kissed her softly, not saying a word. He knew that she needed to let it all out.

He brought her in closer and she buried her face in his neck. She'd done this a million times but she'd never been this upset.

Harry was the most important person in her whole life. She felt like she failed as a mother. Mums were meant to protect their sons with all their hearts, and she had failed him. Voldemort was looking out for him, all because of some _stupid_ words.

The two parents didn't sleep much that night. They spent the whole night sick with worry and tears. Lily was in a mess and James tried to be there for her, but he felt hopeless.

Hopeless that he couldn't even look after his own son. Hopeless that he couldn't protect his family against a_wizard_. Yes, the wizard was one of the darkest wizards of all time but a father was meant to be able to be a superhero.

_The war is only just beginning_, he thought grimly.

* * *

Okay, I've posted this on a different site and I've already been told that I was wrong about the whole Secret Keeper thing. I completely forgot that it was only a week before Halloween when Peter was made Secret Keeper, so I might change it but I probably won't because I'm extremely pressed for time. I've finished the whole story and will post it all when it has finished posting on the other site (as that is my "main" fanfiction account), but any changes will probably take a while to come. But yeah, I am aware that I've messed it up a bit but if you want you can pretend Dumbledore went on a mission for eight months or was extremely busy. ;)

Thanks for reading! :)

Oh and if anyone's curious, it's going to be nine chapters!

Also, I read all of your reviews and I really appreciate them! It just confuses me how to answer them, so I don't really answer them that often, but I do love them all. Thank you! 3

- Kayla. :)


	7. Chapter 7

"Welcome to your first Astronomy class," Professor Sidera said loudly, effectively silencing the excited chattering.

After all, they were having class at _midnight_!

Lily grinned at her new dorm-mate Mary MacDonald and she grinned back. Both were Muggleborn and both were so excited to start learning about the way of the magical world.

The class immediately perked up as the professor picked up a telescope. "First we'll learn how to use a telescope," she said briskly. "Has anyone used a telescope before?"

The first years were quiet as they all looked at each other. One boy with messy hair and lopsided glasses said loudly, "Sirius has!"

"Oi, shove off," the one called Sirius replied, pushing the messy-haired boy. Lily and Mary looked at each other in annoyance. They'd only been here for a week or so and already they'd been in trouble more times than they could count.

Sidera thinned her lips. "Have you used one before?" she asked crisply.

Sirius shook his head and the messy-haired boy said, "Stop lying! He has. His family made him study stars and things like that!"

Sidera looked at Sirius and asked, "Are you a Pureblood?" It was not intended to be threatening but Sirius bristled at the question.

"So what if I am? Doesn't make any difference, does it?" he said loudly.

Sidera smiled and shook her head at him. "No, it doesn't. I know who you are. You must be Sirius Black. And you?" she asked, looking at the messy-haired boy.

"James Potter," he said promptly. "I learnt a bit of Astronomy but never paid any attention to my mum. She's an old bat," he said fondly.

Mary gasped. "As if he'd talk about his mother that way," she whispered to Lily. Lily agreed and stared at the two with distaste written all over her face. They'd been the ones who'd annoyed her and Sev on the train. She still hadn't warmed up to them yet.

Sidera smiled again. "I know her, but since you two know so much about Astronomy, I'm going to let you teach the class, is that okay?" They stared at her, gobsmacked and she chuckled. "That isn't going to happen. So stop talking and listen to me, okay? I don't care if you're the Astronomy genius in the world, I'm the teacher and you listen to me." They nodded and James shuffled his feet.

Lily had a new found respect for this teacher. The rest of the class laughed at the pair and the professor resumed teaching the students how to use a telescope. Lily and Mary listened attentively and when the professor told them to partner up, they immediately inched closer together.

However, there were a few troubles where people were in threes, others were alone so the professor rolled her eyes and said exasperatedly, "_I'll_ put you in pairs. You and you go to that telescope. You two, together and at that telescope."

She kept pairing up students and then her eyes came to rest on Sirius Black and James Potter. They grinned at her. "If you think I'm putting you troublemakers together, think again!" Their expressions dropped and she pointed to James. "You, you can go with…" Her eyes searched around the classroom and then pointed at Lily. "Her. And go over to that telescope in that corner."

Lily groaned and James grinned. "Heya, Evans. Seems like we're partners," he said bounding over to her.

"Unfortunately. See you, Mary," she said sadly, about to start following James to the telescope.

Mary gave her a sad look. "Good luck." Lily laughed and then Professor Sidera paired Mary up with Sirius and put them on the opposite side of the classroom.

"You too," she said as Mary's face dropped. She too looked disappointed with these pairings but neither could do anything.

"Oi, Evans!" James said, beckoning her over to the telescope. "Hurry up and come over here. The stars aren't going to be out all night."

Lily scowled and deliberately took her time getting to the telescope. She could tell James was getting irritated by the way his leg was jiggling up and down. She felt a smug sort of satisfaction and when she finally got to the blasted telescope she said, "I'm here now."

He rolled his eyes and said, "Well, since you took so bloody long I've already gone and set it up."

Lily huffed in annoyance. She needed to learn how to do this; otherwise she'd get in trouble! And he knew that! She thinned her lips and said, "I'm just going to have to redo it, because I need to learn how to because unlike you I'm a Muggleborn and like a normal kid I played outside instead of fiddling with telescopes."

James shrugged. "Fine. Don't expect me to help you." He folded his arms and sent her a challenging glare.

She sent a scathing glare in return. "I won't need your help," she said stiffly. Her arm reached out but before she could try to work out what knobs she needed to turn and what angle she needed to have the telescope, he reached over and fiddled around with everything.

"What did you do that for?" she said in outrage.

He gave her an innocent look. "I'm only giving you a fair go. How else will you learn?"

Annoyed with his logic, Lily turned her back on him and ignored that stupid smirk of his. He watched in interest as she started twisting and turning the telescope. She kept peering at the eyepiece and she quickly gave it one more twist. "There," she said happily. James looked at the telescope and it seemed to be in the correct position so he scowled deeply. Lily grinned at his expression.

"Professor," Lily said, raising her hand in the air to attract the attention of Sidera. She looked at Lily and Lily asked timidly, "Would you mind checking our telescope? Is this right?"

Sidera walked towards them and moved them out of the way. James stayed a bit back, wary of her. Lily looked on eagerly, rising on her toes to look at the way the teacher fiddled around. "Pretty good job, you just didn't adjust the finder scope. Here, see what I'm doing?" Lily nodded enthusiastically as James looked on sullenly. "Now, you're ready to start looking at stars. Good work, guys."

Lily grinned and James still stared at the ground. Sidera walked away and Lily said, "Shall I have a look first or did you want to?"

James shrugged moodily. "Whatever."

Lily tore her eyes away from the night sky and said exasperatedly, "What _is_ your problem? I know we aren't the greatest of friends but the sooner we get through this the sooner we can get away from each other. So stop moping about and do something!" She folded her arms and glared at him. She then cast her eyes over to where Mary and Sirius were, and was suddenly thankful she was with James not Sirius. Sirius was putting things in Mary's hair and kept moving the telescope away from her every time Mary tried to look in the eyepiece.

James sighed. He unfolded his arms and said, "Yeah, you're right. You can go first. What are you going to draw first?"

Lily shrugged and cast her gaze back over him. "Whatever I find first."

James cracked half a smile and jerked his head towards the telescope. "So are you going to look through it?"

"Oh, right," Lily said, flustered. "Yeah." She quickly picked up her notebook and laid it in front of her and searched for her quill. James tapped his foot impatiently and she finally found it, letting out a triumphant noise. "Found it!" At James' annoyed look, she shut up and peered through the telescope. She frowned and looked for an easy constellation to draw. She finally found one and started scribbling on her parchment, checking every so often what star went where.

She could feel James right behind her so she turned around and snapped, "Would you stop breathing?!"

He looked taken aback and she clapped a hand to her mouth. "That's not what I meant," she said, blushing furiously. "I don't want you to stop breathing."

"I should hope not, considering it's keep me alive and all," he said good naturedly. She was rather wary of his ridiculous mood swings but it was late at night and maybe he just didn't cope with late nights well. She was a bit more crabby than usual but she was used to staying up late, her and Petunia used to sneak into each other's bedrooms and talk the night away.

She missed her sister but she pushed the thought to the back of her mind. She needed to focus on Astronomy. She gave him a small grin and said, "I meant do you mind not hovering over me. It's annoying."

He nodded and took a step away. "Oh, okay. I was just curious to what you're drawing because you've been taking a long time."

She blushed. "Sorry," she said a bit frostily. "I just can't get this infernal shape. But I'm nearly done."

James nodded and waited for Lily to finish. When she finally did she let out a loud, "Huzzah!" James rolled his eyes and peered through the telescope. He then looked at Lily's drawing and then back at the telescope.

"You didn't even draw the same bloody constellation!" he cried out, picking up her parchment. "You've got all the stars in the wrong position!"

Lily snatched her parchment back from his dirty hands. "I've done it right! Are you looking at the right one?" she asked in annoyance.

James huffed. "Yes, I am! I know how to look through a ruddy telescope!" She shoved him to the side and looked through the telescope again.

She said exasperatedly, "It's exactly the same! Look!" She pointed at the eyepiece.

James argued that it wasn't the same. "It's not even upside down! Or flipped or anything! I've no idea _what_you've drawn, Evans but it sure isn't this constellation!"

Lily scowled. "Well then you do it if you're so good at it," she shot at him.

"I will, and I'll show you what it _actually_ looks like!" he said stubbornly. He grabbed his own piece of parchment and started to scribble on it furiously. Lily watched in annoyance and in no time at all, he had finished. "There, look at this and then the constellation in the sky and tell me it doesn't look the same," he said, handing his parchment to her.

She took it off him, still scowling and looked through the eyepiece. She then looked down at the parchment in her hand and sure enough, it seemed that he had drawn it much better and much more accurate than she had.

He noticed her face twisting and he smiled in smug satisfaction. "Is mine better, Evans?" he asked mockingly.

She sniffed haughtily. "Maybe," she said, extremely unwilling to admit it.

"Give it up; you know I did a better job than you. You better get used to it," he added cockily. Lily growled and handed him back his parchment.

"Shut up, Potter. Now let's identify this bloody thing, okay?" she said grumpily. James grinned at the fact that he had managed to get under her skin.

"Sure thing," he chirped happily. Lily shot him a filthy glare and pulled out her Astronomy textbook from her bag. She opened it up and flicked through it, barely glancing at the 'alignment of the stars'.

James grabbed a hold of her wrist to cease the annoying flicking of pages. "Oi, Evans. Slow down, won't you? You can't possibly be reading all those that quickly!"

"Get your hand _off me_, Potter," she spat. Her eyes screamed hostility and James—who was extremely alarmed—quickly let go of her wrist and raised his hands up in defence.

"I didn't mean anything by it. Merlin, what's got you all cross?" he said wonderingly.

Lily resisted the urge to scream at him. "You! You've got me all cross! You're an annoying, stupid, git who needs a good kick in the face!" she said nastily.

James' eyes darkened. "At least I'm not a little brat who gets all huffy when things don't go her way!" he said lowly.

Lily huffed. "You're so rude, you know? The first time we met you were a prat and each time after that you've been a prat and now I've been partnered with you for Astronomy and it is so annoying because if it weren't for yours and Sirius' prattish tendencies I could be working with Mary and having a jolly good time but no! You had to be annoying and provoke the teacher and—"

James cut off Lily's furious rant. Her face had gone rather red. "What the _hell_ is your problem? Not everything is going to go your way, and you weren't any better either when we first met. You were a right snob, and you still are! So stop blaming me and Sirius because not everything has gone perfectly in 'Lily-Land'," he spat.

Lily snapped, "Oh shut up. I may as well do this blood assignment by myself."

James snorted. "You're probably going to get it wrong because you're so hopeless at this subject."

Lily snapped the textbook shut and shot him a glare. "Why am I horrible in this subject? Is it because I'm a Muggleborn? Just because you've had some practice in this subject does not mean you are the mighty king of everything!" she said.

James rolled his eyes. "Just face it, for the time being, I'm better than you in this subject. And yeah, it's because I'm a Pureblood but who cares about freaking blood status? It isn't important!"

Lily heard Sev say the same thing. She had worried about it when he first told her about magic but on the second day of being here she noticed it _was_ a big deal. It wasn't as evident in this year—although there were some questionable students—but in older years she saw it. When she heard people making fun of others with the same blood status as her, she hid in the bathroom for a few hours before a girl in her dormitory, Dorcas, told her some people worried about blood status but most people didn't. And the people who did were not people who she would want to be around, apparently.

She relaxed slightly after that but she was still rather sensitive on the whole Muggleborn issue.

"Evans," James said, snapping his fingers in front of her eyes, "wake up, there."

She blinked and said, "Sorry. I was just thinking."

"About what?" he asked, his previous hostility seeming to have disappeared.

"Blood status," she said curiously. Immediately James' face turned into a wary one.

"Why?" he asked suspiciously.

She shrugged. "Well, I don't really understand it, do I? Sometimes I hear things at home with 'coloured people', or whatever. I don't really understand but I feel like it's the same thing," she said, thinking out loud.

"I don't know anything about the Muggle world," James said, "but I do know that blood status is quite important in some households. Not mine," he said quickly. "But others. I'm not too sure of it either, my parents don't really tell much."

She nodded and he noticed she was fiddling with the spine of the book. She was trailing her nails up and down, up and down. "Should we go back to work?" he asked.

"Oh, yeah," she said, flushing a brilliant red. She shifted nervously and said quietly, "Sorry I said all those nasty things about and to you."

He ruffled his hair. She twitched but he didn't notice it. "That's alright. And I'm sorry too."

She gave him a tight smile and returned to her book. She finally found the right constellation and read out loud, "Tarandus."

"What is it?" James asked curiously. Lily peered at the pages, her mouth twisting in confusion.

"It's a reindeer," she said, frowning at the book.

James looked at the book itself and said, "Yeah, okay? Why are you confused?"

She cocked her head to the side and squinting her eyes, she said, "I don't see it."

James gestured for her to give him the book so he could have a proper look at it. She reluctantly handed it over and after looking at it for a few seconds, he let out a short burst of laughter. "Evans, it isn't going to be a super accurate drawing of a perfect reindeer. It's a simple picture, here, follow my finger." He pointed at different stars and dragged it along the page, tracing the outline of the reindeer.

"Oh," she said quietly. "I understand." She blushed and James laughed, looking at her sideways.

"Did you think it was going to be a perfect artwork or something?" he teased.

Her cheeks were burning. She muttered, "Maybe." He grinned and rolled his eyes at her.

"Ah, Evans, so naïve," he said jokingly. She tried not to smile so she bit down on her lips. James noticed it but didn't say anything. "What do we do now?" he asked, looking around the classroom.

Sirius was still annoying Mary and she looked livid. Lily heard her say, "I'm going to jam this stupid telescope up your left nostril, Black!"

Lily laughed at her new friend's antics. She turned back to James. "Seems like our mates aren't getting along," she observed, gesturing to the other side of the room.

James looked over to the pair where Sirius said, "You probably wouldn't even know how to do that seeing as you can't even look through the thing!"

Mary let out a noise of frustration. Through gritted teeth, she said, "I can't look through the damn thing because you keep moving it."

James snorted at his best friend's cheeky smirk. Lily said, "I'm glad you're not being like that right now."

James' eyes flicked back over to Lily. "I could be that annoying," he suggested.

Lily shook her head and grinned. "Please don't, I'm starting to actually warm up to you. You know you aren't that bad when you're not insulting anyone?"

He grinned. "Thanks. And you're not too bad once you stop acting all high and mighty."

Lily blushed and ducked her head, her hair covering her warm cheeks. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"No worries," James said, sitting down on the ledge of the Tower. Lily looked up and then went white.

"You're going to fall off!" she said loudly. The rest of the class turned to them and James gave them a wave.

"Nah, I'm fine," he said, his eyes twinkling. Lily started to panic, what if he fell off? What would she do then?

"Potter," Sidera barked, "get off the ledge before you fall down and hurt yourself. I don't want to bother with that paper work." She glared at him.

James grumbled but reluctantly hopped off the ledge. Lily let out a sigh of relief and he looked over to her. "Would you have cared if I fell off?" he asked curiously.

"Of course," Lily said indignantly, appalled to think that he thought she'd be happy if he fell off.

James shrugged. "Just curious. You don't seem to—"

"To what?" she asked, her green eyes narrowing dangerously. "To care?" she asked, putting her hands on her hips. "Newsflash, I'm not that snobby I don't care if you fall off! It would be terrible if you fell off because most likely, you would die. I'm not that mean to not care at all! I can't believe you'd think I'm like that?" she said angrily.

James raised his arms up in self-defence. "I didn't mean it like that, Evans—"

"I don't care how you meant it, you still said it!" she snapped, cutting him off. He was about to retaliate but the teacher cut him off.

"Alright, it seems that everyone's done their work. I'll escort you to Gryffindor Tower. Come along," she said, gesturing them to leave the Tower.

Lily stomped off to find Mary, who looked extremely angry. She let Mary tell her about her night before telling her about her own night.

"Argh, those boys are so annoying!" Mary said, scowling.

"I know," Lily said miserably. She looked behind her where Sirius and James had their heads bent together and they were whispering as well.

"And you know what Black said to me?" Mary nearly shrieked. She didn't wait for Lily to answer and said, "He said one day that we would become friends! Pfft! As if!"

Lily snorted. "That's _never_ going to happen."


	8. Chapter 8

"Hey, isn't it your mum's birthday tomorrow, Lily?" Mary asked, not looking up from her dream diary homework for Divination.

Lily gasped and clapped a hand to her mouth. "It is! I completely forgot! I'll send her a letter and tell her the school owl couldn't carry her package."

Mary grinned. "It's good having Muggle parents, isn't it? We can use so many excuses and they won't know a thing."

Lily laughed as she pulled out a roll of parchment, an inkwell and a quill. "It is pretty good. Anyway, I'll start writing this letter." Mary nodded and returned to her Divination homework as Lily chewed on her quill. She wasn't too sure what to write so she wrote something generic and sealed the envelope quickly. She wrote down her home address and then put all her belongings back in her bag.

"I'm just going to put this back in our dorm, and then I'll be off to the Owlery, is that alright?" Lily asked her friend, standing up and stretching her legs.

Mary nodded. "Yeah, that's fine. Just be quick because curfew's in about twenty minutes."

Lily smiled and rushed up the stairs to throw her school bag on the bed before bounding down the stairs, her red hair flying like a ribbon behind her.

She slammed the portrait door closed ignoring the indignant shout from the Fat Lady. She was running as fast as she could—but Lily hardly ever exercised so it wasn't all that fast—until she smacked into somebody else, both of them flying backwards.

"Ow!" she said, sitting up. "Sorry about that," she apologised, looking at the person who she'd knocked over.

"That's alright, Evans," James Potter replied with a grin. "Here." He held out a hand for her to pull herself up with. She gratefully accepted it and brushed the dust and dirt off of her.

"Thanks," she said. "Anyway, I best be off. Got a letter to send." She gave him a quick smile before hurrying off.

James cocked his head and shouted down the corridor, "Where you going?"

"The Owlery!" she cried back, turning around to smile at him.

He smirked. "You know the Owlery is the other way right? I'm on my way as well."

She halted and looked around at where she was, realising that he was right. "Damn," she muttered. "Ran all that way for nothing."

She slowly walked back towards James who was laughing at her. "You ran from the Gryffindor Tower?" She nodded, still puffing, and he asked in bewilderment, "Why?"

"I want to be back before curfew," she said indignantly. James checked his watch and looked at her in worry. "What?" she said defensively, her cheeks becoming hotter.

"You know it's only eight right?" he said, showing her the watch.

"I can't read that," she grumbled, looking at the strange wizard watch. She would never understand why they wouldn't use a simple, Muggle watch. She then thought about what he said and she let out a loud exhale. "Bloody Mary told me curfew was starting in twenty minutes."

James grinned. "You still have an hour, well technically fifty-six minutes but that's practically the same thing," he said easily, waiting for the stairs to arrive at their feet.

Lily smiled and tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, asked, "Who are you sending a letter to?"

"My parents," he said. "They expect a letter at least once a week—worry warts they are—and I forgot to send one earlier. What about you?"

She grinned. "It's my mum's birthday tomorrow and I forgot all about it. I'm sending her a letter and going to get her present later at Hogsmeade. I just said that the owl wouldn't be able to carry it, so I'm going to have to look for something big."

James laughed. "If I said that to my mum she'd know straight away and wail that I don't love her properly."

Lily joined in laughing with him. They chatted back and forth about Hogsmeade and the new lessons they'd been taking and before they knew it, they were at the Owlery. James whistled to beckon his owl to come down. Lily, as she was reaching for a school owl, said, "That's a nice owl."

James shrugged as he tied the letter around his owl's leg. "He's just a barn owl."

Lily smiled. "He's still nice-looking. What's his name?" she asked amicably.

James grinned at her. "Evans, are you trying to hit on my owl?" She snorted so loudly the owl she had just convinced to approach her flew away, hooting madly.

"Oh look at that, you've made me lose the owl!" she said exasperatedly. "But no, Potter. I'm not hitting on your owl. I'm just making conversation."

He laughed and sent the owl flying out the window. "His name is Barney. Because he's a barn owl?"

Lily bit her lip to hide her laughter. "You're originality astounds me, James."

He rolled his eyes and approached a school owl gently. "What would you name an owl?" He finally got an owl to perch on his arm and he started walking slowly towards her.

"I don't know," she said, biting on her lip in thought. "Something wise-sounding. Something like… George. Or Wilson."

James laughed—although he was careful not to jostle the owl—and shook his head. "Those are terrible names for owls! You must be mad to think those names sound 'wise'!"

Lily stuck her tongue out at him and slowly wrapped the rolled parchment to the owl that was perched on James' arm. When she finally tied it up, James let the owl fly out into the dark night sky.

The pair watched the owl spread its wings out and soar into the open space. James said, "This could be a postcard picture, y'know?"

Lily laughed. "Of what? An owl soaring into the distance? Seems pretty boring if I say so myself," she teased gently.

James rolled his eyes and nudged his shoulder with hers. "You're just jealous of my creative talents. First Barney and now my postcard idea. You just can't appreciate creativity, Evans," he joked.

Lily laughed and looked around at the owls staring at the two. "If you say so, Potter. How many owls do you reckon live in the Owlery?" she asked curiously.

James shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe a couple hundred?"

"That's crazy!" Lily said, shifting her gaze from the owls in the rafters to James' nonchalant expression.

"It's logical," he pointed out. Lily stared at him incredulously and he sighed. "We have what? Five hundred students?"

Lily shrugged and said, "Yes? What's your point?"

"My _point_ is that if at least half of the student body has an owl—actually, it's more like three quarters—then there would be at least two hundred owls. And then there are school owls, so then there's even more!" he said, looking extremely proud of himself.

Lily stared at him. "That is the most terrible maths I've ever seen. Three quarters of five hundred is not two hundred! That isn't even half! Three quarters is—" she paused, doing some quick calculations in her head; "—three hundred and seventy five!" she said triumphantly.

James looked shocked. "Woah! How'd you do that?!"

She shrugged. "It's easy maths. Just division and then subtracting what you got in the first place!"

James looked at Lily in confusion. It was clear he had no idea what the bloody hell she was going on about. She giggled and he eventually said, "Easy?!"

She nodded. "You should see the stuff my sister does! I only know primary school maths, obviously. Didn't you learn maths?"

James shook his head. "No. I was home-schooled by Mum. I mean, I know how to do easy things, like add money together and taking it away. Simple things like that. None of that 'division' rubbish!"

"Hey!" Lily said indignantly. "It isn't rubbish. It was actually one of my favourite things to do, I mean before I knew I was a witch."

James looked interested. "Can you teach me some?"

Lily looked shocked. He wanted to learn some maths? "Really?" she asked, the surprise evident in her voice.

James nodded. "Yeah! It seems really interesting!"

Lily bit her lip to stop herself from grinning. She thought it would be better to refrain from telling him that nearly every Muggle person in the world hated maths. She would never understand it. "Sure, should we go to the Common Room? Curfew has got to be ending soon."

James glanced at his watch. "You're right. It is ending soon," he said.

"When?" Lily asked.

"Five minutes ago," he said calmly. Lily's eyes bugged out of her head and he said lazily, "No need to worry yourself, Evans."

"We're going to get detention!" she whispered.

James just rolled his eyes and shook his head fondly at Lily. "No, Lily. You've forgotten who you're with."

She folded her arms and glared at him. "So how are we going to get back to the Common Room without being noticed?"

James winked and gestured for her to follow him. She had déjà vu of when they had been doing this the previous year.

He'd obviously been a terrible influence on her.

She tiptoed towards him and he stuck his head out the door. He nodded at her and walked out, with Lily shadowing him nervously. They heard footsteps so they quickly hid in an alcove and waited for the person to pass. James then started rifling through his pockets and found an oddly shaped package. Lily frowned but he only whispered, "_Wingardium Leviosa_." He then directed it to a place Lily couldn't see. His wand twitched and a loud _BANG!_ came from where Lily guessed the package was.

"What did you do?" she hissed. "That's where we're meant to go!"

"No time! Just follow me!" he said hurriedly, grabbing her hand and starting to run in the opposite direction of the Gryffindor Tower. Lily was confused but she didn't dare stop even though her chest felt like it was on fire.

They finally stopped behind a tapestry and Lily let go of James' hand to take a deep breath. James grinned at her and said, "Ready to go again?"

She looked at him in horror but he held up a finger. "You'll get more rest. Hold on." He started rummaging through his pockets again as Lily looked suspiciously at him. He found something different and Lily narrowed her eyes at the strange object.

"Is that a firework?" she said in hushed tones. James just gave her a wink before lighting it on fire with his wand.

He grabbed her hand and said, "_Run_."

Oh boy, did she run. She ran in the opposite direction and let James tug her to all sorts of shortcuts before they had finally reached the Fat Lady. Lily wheezed, "Foxglove."

"Next time try to get here before the curfew, dearies!" the Fat Lady said cheerfully as she allowed them entrance. Lily scrambled through the hole and flopped on the couch tiredly. James followed her, although in a much more graceful manner. She should have been embarrassed but she was too puffed out to care.

"So are we going to learn some maths?" James asked cheerfully, swinging his arms.

Lily glared up at him from the squashy pillows she had snuggled herself in. "Let me at least get changed first, I'm all gross and sticky right now."

James made a face and nodded, telling her, "I'll go get change too! Meet you down here in fifteen minutes?" Lily nodded and he bounded up the stairs. She slowly pulled herself off the lovely couch and shuffled up the stairs to her dorm.

She was surprised to find all her dorm-mates were already asleep. She had never seen them sleep this early but she remembered that they had played a big game of Quidditch with a few other Houses before dinner. She would have joined in but she wasn't very confident on a broom and she had gotten all her homework done due to the lack of distractions in the library.

She had a quick shower and pulled on some pyjamas before walking down the stairs feeling much fresher and awake than she did before. She saw James already sitting in front of the dwindling fireplace and she grinned.

"Hey," he said, tapping his fingers on his leg. "You ready?" he asked.

She nodded brightly and sat opposite him. "Yep. So where did you want to start?" As he thought about it, she took the time to analyse his clothing. He had red pyjama bottoms with a very large grey shirt that seemed to have faded words written on it. She tried to read them but James clicked his fingers in front of her face.

She jolted and he laughed. "Anyone home?"

She let out a light laugh. "Yeah, I was just trying to read what it says on your shirt."

He looked down at his shirt. "Dunno, I just found it in summer and it fit so I thought it'd be good for sleeping. It's really comfy." Lily grinned and he said, "So maths?"

"Oh right!" she said, giving herself a small smack. "I forgot. So should we just start from the beginning?"

"That's what I said," James said, grinning. She blushed and quickly apologised but he just waved it off, his smile widening so much that it should have hurt.

Lily then started to explain all sorts of things and when she got to the multiplication, she did a little jiggle, excited for this part. Multiplying things together was her absolute favourite thing to do. "Is this part fun?" James predicted when he saw her bouncing excitedly.

She nodded and taught him the nine times tables. It was her favourite out of them all. She finally had gotten James to recite up to the twelve times tables. She was having so much fun but her grin was wiped off when James asked, "Do you actually find this fun? Honestly, it's kind of boring in my opinion."

Her shoulders slumped and she felt like all the happiness in the world had been taken from her. "You don't like maths?" she asked timidly.

James—noticing too late that he had made her upset—widened his eyes and started to backtrack. "Oh. N-no! It's heaps of fun! It really is!" he said enthusiastically, nodding his head vigorously.

Lily started to pack her stuff away solemnly. "You didn't like it," she said sadly. "It's okay, not many people do."

James felt terrible. She had been so excited to teach him and he had been honestly so excited to learn about it, but he quickly found out that it was so boring and tiresome. He could have fallen asleep, it was that boring to him. "I'm sorry, Lily," he said earnestly. "I wish I did like it, but I don't."

She shrugged. "It's okay. I just thought I'd found someone who loves maths as much as me. I'm just going to go to sleep now. Goodnight."

She then stood up from her spot in front of the fire and started walking up to the girls' staircase before James said, "Wait! Lily, I'm really sorry!"

She smiled at him. "No, it's okay. I am overreacting a bit; I was just so excited to think that someone actually enjoyed it like I do."

James grinned. "You never know, though. One day I might be in a battle and they'll ask me to recite the seven times tables in order to live. It may be useful one day."

Lily snorted. "I really doubt that, unless you were in some Muggle maths war." She sat back down next to him and laughed. "But if you were in a Muggle maths war, how do you reckon it would have started?" she said.

James puffed out his chest importantly. "In my opinion, I think that they were trying to get rid of maths for good because they thought it was unnecessary but there was a smaller amount of people who thought it was completely necessary so it would have started a _mathsive_ war!" He grinned and Lily burst into a fit of laughter.

"That was the worst pun I've ever heard, Potter," she said covering her face with her hands. James laughed with her and she eventually calmed herself down to ask, "So in this battle, do you reckon you'd win?"

"Of course," he said arrogantly. Lily laughed and he said, "I'm going to live until I'm two hundred years old, just you watch."

Lily snorted and said, "Really? I plan to live until I'm two hundred and seven." She grinned mischievously as he shook his head. "Don't deny it, Potter. Women live longer."

James conceded that point with a nod of his head but said, "Yes, but I'm better."

Lily laughed again and clapped her hands slowly. "Great argument there, James. You should really work in the Magical Law Enforcement when you're older."

He gasped in mock horror. "Never! I'm going to win the Mathsive Maths War and inherit millions of riches so I won't need to work and I'll tell all my kids and grandkids and great-grandkids and great-great-grandkids what a hero I was-slash-am and they'll be so amazed by my superiority."

Lily was laughing so hard she nearly had tears streaming down her face. "What if there's another Mathsive Maths War when you're two hundred? Would you fight in that again?"

"Of course I would. I would die in battle of course, and I'll be forever remembered as the Mathsive Maths War Hero. I'll have a whole castle built in my name with different times tables on each door," he said without missing a beat.

"Really die in battle? That's the way I was going to die in the second Mathsive War," she said, biting her lip to hide her smile.

James clasped her hands in his and said solemnly, "We'll die together. As a duo and we'll each have a castle named after us. It was a grand fight and we'll be remembered forever, never you worry."

Lily replied just as solemnly, "It was a pleasure fighting with you, Mister Potter."

"And you, Miss Evans," he said, bowing. Lily couldn't take it any longer and burst into loud laughter and James then joined in, letting go of her hands.

The two of them were huddled over and gasping for breath, ignoring the older students who had been glaring at them for being so noisy.

Their laughter eventually abated and Lily let out a large sigh. "I should be going to sleep. This was fun; we should do it again some time."

"Not the maths, though?" James asked cheekily.

Lily let out a small giggle. "Not the maths," she affirmed. "But this." She gestured with her hands wildly but James knew what she was talking about. "Goodnight," she said, giving him a wide smile.

"Goodnight, Lily," he replied warmly. She gave him one last wave before walking up the girls' staircase in front of her.

James Potter really knew how to make her laugh.


	9. Chapter 9

"Are we taking Harry trick or treating?" James asked his wife, his face barely containing his excitement.

Lily bit her lip nervously. "I want to, but I don't know if it would be wise…" she said with a grimace. She fiddled nervously with her earring while gnawing on her bottom lip.

James pouted and said, "Come on, Lily. It will be fine. We'll dress him up so you can't see his face, I'll wear the Invisibility—" He paused and then swore. "Damn it, Dumbledore has the Cloak." He rubbed a hand over his face tiredly.

Lily nodded morosely. "I know. That's why I don't want to go." She twisted her hair into a make-shift ponytail but without a hair-tie it just flopped back down the length of her back.

James sighed and flopped down on the lounge. "I hate this," he said. "I want to be _out there_; protecting you and Harry." His legs were jiggling up and down in frustration. His hands tapped an irregular beat on the armrest and he was chewing on the inside of his jaw. He was antsy, he needed to go outside and have a run or something, which was something that Lily could sympathise with him.

Well, not with the running. Lily really didn't like any form of exercise. But she would like to be able to go outside without Polyjuice Potion or a Cloak surrounding her and she would like to go out and let Harry enjoy the world like a normal kid, but she knew she'd be putting him in so much danger if she did and she wasn't going to risk that. If she could just go have one walk outside with Harry, that would make her extremely happy. She knew it had to be over soon though, if she was thinking rationally. But she was still so sick of the indoors.

Lily sat down next to him and wrapped her arms around her husband's thin waist. "I know, but it's better that you're here. Then I don't worry if you never come back." She kissed his shoulder. She felt like a shrew saying that, but it was the truth. She never had to worry if one day Dumbledore would come over with terrible news. She needed James, more than anyone in the world. He was the only person keeping her sane; if it wasn't for him she would have cracked a multitude of times already and she knew it was the same for him. They needed each other more than anything at this moment of their lives.

He held her tightly and kissed the top of her head. "I know. But it's frustrating." His hands started fiddling with the ends of her hair. She played with the frayed ends of his shirt and rested one hand on his bouncing knee. He was restless, she knew that.

She let out a short laugh but it lacked the usual brightness. "You're telling me. Why did Dumbledore take the cloak?" she asked curiously. She looked up at him and saw him staring at the picture of the three of them at Harry's first 'birthday party'. He had been trying to put his face in the cake when they were taking the picture. So James had put a bit of cake in his hair to please him.

They both had the cheekiest—and identical—grin in the photo. Photo Lily in the background was laughing but avoiding James and Harry's sticky hands.

He shrugged. Lily dragged her eyes away from the photo and to James, who was looking down at her with half a grin. "Beats me. Dumbledore could ask for a galloping pony to take him to Australia and no one would question him."

Lily laughed loudly. "How about we have our own little trick or treat?" she suggested.

James pretended to think about it. "If you're offering—"

She swatted him on the shoulder. He grinned at her. "That wasn't an innuendo! I mean, we hide sweets around the house and take Harry looking for them!" she said in a rush, a wide grin tugging at her worn face.

This time he really did think about it. "Yeah, that sounds good," he said, his hazel eyes lighting up as he mulled the idea over in his head.

She grinned and pulled away from him. "Excellent! You go hide the sweets, I got Bathilda to bring some over the other day and I made a Halloween costume!"

James was taken aback. "When did you do all this?" he asked, shocked that she could have pulled this off without him noticing.

She grinned mischievously. "Being James Potter's wife gave me some tips on sneaking around. Sweets are in the pantry." She quickly walked up the stairs where Harry should have just been waking up from his nap. She knew she shouldn't let him have sweets before his dinner, but she didn't mind too much. He hardly ever got to do anything because of the bloody prophecy.

James found the sweets as soon as he opened the pantry door. He scattered them around the house, making them obvious to find because he knew if he put them in a difficult place Lily would chastise him for being a git.

Even though they were married, and had a gorgeous baby boy together, she still felt the need to insult him often. She told him that it was good for his ego.

He laughed; thinking of the various names Lily had called him before they were together as he sprinkled some of the wrapped lollies over the armrests. He heard footsteps on the stairs so he looked up and saw Lily holding Harry.

Who was dressed in a Gryffindor Chaser's outfit. James grinned widely. "There's my little man!" he said proudly. Harry clapped and reached out for James, who plucked him out of Lily's arms immediately. He bounced him on his hip.

"Ready to look for your treats?" he asked, beaming at his son. Lily's heart swelled at the sight of the two of them with their heads bent together, giggling and laughing.

Harry nodded and said loudly, "YES!"

James laughed and ruffled up his hair. "Little tyke," he said affectionately. "Come on then." He put him down and he started wobbling everywhere, looking for the sweets. Lily pulled out the camera and started taking pictures of the two.

"Hold on!" James said, tearing his eyes away from Harry bouncing. "We have to get his broom!"

Lily sighed. "Fine, let me just put a few things away first. And we'll let Jasper go on our bed."

James wrinkled his nose. He never liked the cat. But he knew for Harry to get his broom he had to agree. Lily waved her wand and the fragile items of the house flew towards the cupboard. After Harry had accidentally broken the vase Lily received from Petunia, she was very wary of all the other objects becoming broken.

Harry clapped his hands happily and watched the belongings fly, laughing. Lily let James grab Jasper—who was watching Harry warily—and get the toy broom Sirius got Harry for his birthday.

James picked up the black cat and held him at arm's length. The cat growled but when he realised he was being put down on the bed, he started to purr. James rolled his eyes and grabbed Harry's broom, bounding down the stairs and nearly tripping over his own feet in his excitement. He loved seeing Harry ride his broom; it made him so proud as a father.

As soon as Harry saw the broom, his green eyes lit up. "BROOM!" He pointed to it and tried to squirm out of Lily's grip to get to it.

"That's right, mate," James said, setting the broom just above the floor. "You can fly it tonight."

Lily gently placed Harry on the broom, worry creasing her face. "Don't worry about it," James murmured. "He's a natural."

"I know," she snapped. "I just don't like him flying, it's dangerous."

She let go of Harry reluctantly and he shot off, weaving through James' legs. James roared with laughter and Lily laughed with him. He found some sweets, but when he took his hands off to grab them, he nearly fell. Luckily James caught him just in time, so no harm was done.

Although, Lily looked like she was going to rip James' head off, so he quickly summoned the sweets towards him and said jokingly, "We'll give them to him after he's had a ride."

Lily glared at him but then smiled when Harry raced past. She took a few more pictures before saying, "Okay then, that's enough for today. Let's go have the sweets now!"

James quickly plucked Harry off the broom and flicked his wand so the broom would lock itself away. Lily jabbed her wand at the cupboard with all the fragile stuff to return to their places. Harry started to cry loudly so Lily snatched him off James and started to soothe him. Although James was a wonderful dad, he could never deal with one of Harry's tantrums.

James often remarked that it was the 'Mummy's-boy' coming out in him at those times. Lily would just say that Harry preferred his mum over his dad.

Lily took Harry away to settle him down as James cleared everything away. He then pulled out some dinner for the three of them and jabbed his wand setting the vegetables to chop themselves up. He made up a smaller and squashier portion for Harry. Thankfully Harry wasn't a particularly fussy eater, so it usually didn't matter what they gave him. He generally ate everything, just like James.

Lily came into the kitchen with a much happier looking Harry wriggling on her hip. She placed him in the high chair so he wouldn't go running around the house without his parents' watchful eyes and made her way to James.

She kissed his cheek and said, "Sit down, I can do this."

"Lily, I know how to cook," he said. "You cook heaps, let me do something," he said, gesturing for her to sit down but she wasn't having any of it.

She shook her head. "James, let me cook, please. I _want_ to," she insisted.

"You sure?" he asked. "I can help a little bit, if you want?"

She ran a hand through his hair and said, "No, go entertain Harry. But thank you."

"You're welcome," he said, pulling her in close to give her a kiss. She grinned against his lips but leant backwards to put some distance between the two.

"Not when Harry's in the room, James," Lily warned, waggling her finger at him.

He rolled his eyes. "Lily, is he really going to remember anything at this time? He won't remember anything until he's about three or four, and you know it."

She simply shook her head at him and untangled herself from his arms that were currently wrapped around her waist. "Yes, but I'd still feel bad. Anyway, we have all night," she said lightly.

James perked up and grinned wickedly. "I guess we do," he said, looking far too pleased.

Lily opened her mouth to say something but Harry said loudly, "Dada!" He clapped his hands to get his father's attention.

"Our son calls you," Lily said, turning her back on him. James grinned and sat down next to Harry, ruffling his hair up.

"What's up little man? You wanna watch some fireworks?" he said, pulling his wand out from his faded blue jeans. "Look!" He made small sparks appear out of his wand and Harry was laughing and giggling, trying to reach for them and frowning whenever they stopped.

Lily was watching her husband and son interact, their black messy heads close together and the same cheeky grin. If she didn't know better, she would have just thought someone cloned James and handed her the baby. Other than his eyes—which were an exact replica of her own—he looked exactly like James and already at fifteen months old he had a penchant for mischief.

She eventually served the food up so James was forced to put his wand away. Harry scrunched his face up when James wouldn't make more sparks but was quickly satisfied when Lily started to feed him.

The family of three surrounded the dinner table and told Harry stories about their Halloween experiences at Hogwarts.

"I remember once," James was saying and laughing at the memory, "that your Uncle Padfoot had disappeared the whole day and ended up scaring the life out of me at about midnight. He ripped open the curtains and threw a whole bunch of joke products at me screaming. Nearly wet myself. I turned green as well, because of the gunk he chucked at me. I still have no idea what that stuff was."

Lily laughed and wiped Harry's chin clean. "He once hid in a suit of armour and jumped on top of me when I walked past. I was sore for weeks," she recalled with a grin.

"Do you remember when we went to Hogsmeade in seventh year, Lily?" James asked, grinning.

She nodded with a loud laugh. "Oh yes. That was our what? Second date?" James shrugged and she said, "The three of them dressed in drag and followed us around, saying their names were 'Penelope', 'Randee' and 'Shelley'. And then we found three burly blokes to 'hit on them'. Their faces were priceless."

James laughed. "We had a great time at Hogwarts, didn't we?"

Lily nodded. "We did," she agreed. "Before you know it, Harry, you'll be at Hogwarts as well!" He clapped his hands and laughed as his mum tickled his stomach.

"Come on, we need to get you cleaned up," she said, pulling him out of his high-chair. She held him close and said to James, "Can you please clean all this up? I'll be back soon."

James nodded and blew a raspberry at Harry when Lily's back was turned. Harry laughed and Lily nuzzled his cheek, blowing kisses there.

She walked out of the kitchen and James could hear Harry's laughter bouncing around the house. He tidied up the plates and flicked his wand at the sink so they would wash themselves. He gave the table a quick wipe down and had just put everything away just as Lily and Harry came back downstairs. Harry was in his favourite blue pyjamas and tugging at Lily's hair to be let down, shouting various bits of babble. He still struggled with a lot of words and it was something Lily very often fretted about, but James was unconcerned. According to his own mother, he had apparently learnt to talk when he was nearly two years old.

"Thank you, James," Lily said, setting Harry down so he could have a run around. He immediately ran to the living room so Lily followed him, warning him to be careful.

James chuckled and called out, "Do you want a cuppa? I'm about to put the kettle on!"

"Yes please," she called back. "No, Harry, don't touch that!" James heard Harry laugh, a loud crash and then Lily sighing exasperatedly. He laughed and knew that Harry had inherited the mischievous streak from him.

After the tea was ready, he took both mugs into the living room where was playing with some of his blocks and Lily was sitting on the couch tiredly. He passed her a mug and then sat down next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders.

She curled her legs underneath her and scooted closer towards him, sighing in content. She took a sip of the tea and then wrapped both hands around her mug. "I love you, James."

"I love you too, Lil," he said after he'd taken a sip of his own tea. The two watched Harry playing with all sorts of blocks and plush toys. He then started copying the noises his toy hippogriff was making and Lily started to laugh so hard that she nearly spilt her tea all over herself and James.

"Watch it," James said, flinching. "You're going to burn the both of us!"

Lily rolled her eyes at her husband's theatrics. "You're fine, don't worry."

James grinned. "I know I'm fine. I'm just teasing you." Lily let out a sharp breath and shook her head, although she had a hint of a smile tugging at her lips. "So what got you laughing so hard?" James asked.

"Harry trying to copy the hippogriff noise. I've never heard him make such a sound," she said, putting down her tea to make her way to her son. "You sounded silly, didn't you, Harry?" she cooed, kissing his chubby cheek.

Harry laughed and James set his own tea down to join his wife and son on the floor. Lily said, "James, can you entertain him for a bit? I need to have a shower and then we'll put him to bed."

"Yeah, go ahead," he said, picking up his wand. "I'll make bubbles for him."

Lily smiled and pressed a kiss to both of their cheeks before standing up to go clean herself up. She always felt a bit sticky after rolling around on the ground with Harry. It didn't help that he tended to drool on her and tried to eat her hair.

James was producing multi-coloured bubbles and Harry was trying to catch them with his chubby hands. Harry was laughing, and James couldn't help but join in. Harry's laughter was absolutely infectious.

Lily then returned downstairs a few minutes later and said, "It's way past your bedtime, mister! You stayed up really late tonight!" James stole a look at the clock hanging above her head and saw that it was only nine o'clock. He recalled the times where he and Lily would stay awake all night, just because they could. Now if it was past eight, he would think of going to bed.

Oh how he'd gotten old.

James picked Harry up and pressed a kiss to his son's head. "Night, Harry." Harry grabbed his cheek in reply. James chuckled and ruffled his already messy hair up. Lily left to put him to bed and he threw himself back on the couch, throwing his wand to the side and yawning and stretching his legs out, not hearing the gate out the front creak open, or the leaves rustling as a suspicious figure slithered through them.

Little did James know that that was the last night he and Lily would ever spend together.

* * *

The end!

I just want to thank everyone who gave this story a chance; it really means a lot to me. This was originally going to be a one-shot but I'm so glad I decided to make it more than that! :p

So yeah, I really loved writing this and hopefully you all loved reading this!

- Kayla.


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